Transplant Center

Living Liver Donor Transplant Program

Who can be a Donor?

The transplant team is extremely careful in choosing living donors. Potential donors must meet the following minimum criteria:

Be in excellent medical and psychosocial health
Be between the ages of 18 and 60.
Cannot have uncontrolled high blood pressure, liver disease, diabetes, or heart disease
Cannot be significantly overweight
Be a compatible blood type with the recipient
Be of equivalent or larger size rather than of larger size.

These characteristics can be assessed by the transplant team at the time of the evaluation.

What are the risks involved with being a donor?

Donating a part of a liver does not change the life expectancy of a donor, nor does it increase a person's chance of developing liver disease. The liver regenerates to its normal size within 4 to 10 weeks.

Any surgery involves risks such as infection, bleeding or even death. In general, the risks of severe complications are minimal but present. The risk of death is estimated to be 0.5 percent or lower. The most commonly reported complications include general surgical risks such as bleeding and infection, incisional hernias, temporary jaundice, temporary arm numbness, bile duct complications, and general malaise and stomach disturbances.

If you would like to make an appointment or talk to someone about our services, please call 410-328-5408 or 1-800-492-5538.

This page was last updated on: February 18, 2008.

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