What Is a Domino Liver Transplant?

A "domino" liver transplant is a surgical a procedure that allows doctors to perform two life-saving liver transplants from one deceased organ donor.

As an example, a liver from a deceased donor was transplanted into a 9-year-old patient with maple syrup urine disease (also known as MSUD). The liver that was removed from the 9-year-old was subsequently transplanted into a 24-year-old patient from Saudi Arabia. The maple syrup urine disease was not passed to the second patient. The procedures took place at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA.

The case was the first domino transplant in the world involving a pediatric patient with MSUD.

In 2004, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh also developed the nation’s first comprehensive protocol for performing transplants in MSUD patients. It has performed about two dozen since then, more than any other center in the world.