Types of Liver Transplants

There are many more people who need a liver transplant than there are liver donors to fill the demand. Today, between 15,000 and 20,000 people in the United States need a liver transplant. But only about 5,000 livers become available each year.

Because of the shortage, doctors perform a procedure called a split liver transplant. It's one of several types of liver transplants that are common today.

Split liver transplant In this liver transplant procedure, doctors partition or "split" a full-sized healthy liver from a liver donor who has died. The right lobe of the liver, which is about 60 percent of the organ, is transplanted into an adult. The rest, the left lobe, is transplanted in a child or adolescent. Since the liver is capable of regeneration, these two "split" portions will grow to the required size in time.

Orthotopic liver transplant This is the most common type of liver transplant, and the one that's been used the longest. In an orthotopic liver transplantation, the liver that has failed is removed, and a healthy liver from a deceased donor is transplanted in its place.

Living donor liver transplants A living donor liver transplant means a healthy person donates part of his or her liver to someone whose liver has failed, or is about to fail. In recent years, living donor transplants have become more popular because there are never enough deceased liver donors to supply the need.

Living-donor liver transplants have been increasingly successful in recent years, and most doctors feel it is the best option for children since child-sized livers in are especially short supply.

Living liver donors, of course, can only donate part of their liver. The rest is needed for them to survive. The remaining part of their liver will grow back to normal size in a matter of weeks.