Live Liver donation safer than previously thought

European Hospital

Major surgery to donate a portion of liver does not interfere with long, healthy life

People who donate a portion of their livers for transplant to a relative or friend whose liver is failing can generally expect to live long, healthy lives and recover safely from the donation surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers have found.

“The donor process is safer than some have previously thought,” says transplant surgeon Dorry L. Segev, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of surgery and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the study published in the February issue of the journal Gastroenterology. “Live liver donation is a serious operation with serious risks. However, in this largest study ever conducted in the United States, we have shown that it is safer than many previously believed, with a risk of death of 1.7 per thousand donors.”
Read more: http://www.european-hospital.com/en/article/9389-Live_liver_donation_safer_than_previously_thought.html