Living liver donation
Information for people considering living liver donation.
You can donate a part of your liver to a patient with a serious liver disease. This allows you to save a life. Read here what you can expect.
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How important is your liver?
Your liver is an important organ for metabolism. It ensures that nutrients are converted into substances your body needs. The liver also removes harmful and toxic substances from the blood. In addition, the liver is important for blood clotting.
Donating part of your liver
The liver is a remarkable organ. When a part is removed, the liver can regrow into a normally functioning liver within 8 to 12 weeks. Therefore, you can donate a part of the liver after undergoing extensive screening.
Often a parent donates part of the liver to a child. But a partner, a family member, an acquaintance, or an anonymous donor can also give part of their liver.
If you donate part of your liver to a child, this is 20 to 40% of your liver. If you donate to an adult, approximately 40 to 70% of your liver is removed.
Conditions for liver donation
You cannot simply give a part of your liver to someone else. There are legal rules to protect you and ensure a safe and responsible liver transplantation. And you will undergo examinations to see if you are physically healthy enough and if you can cope well with the donation psychologically.
General conditions
- You are 18 years of age or older.
- You can explain well yourself what you want.
- You have voluntarily decided to donate a part of your liver. No one has pressured you and you will not receive money or gifts for it.
- You are healthy enough and in good condition.
- You are not addicted to alcohol or drugs.
- You have no liver disease, blood disease, kidney disease, or blood clotting problems.
- You do not have a (hereditary) disease that might cause your liver to function less well later.
- You are not pregnant.
Compatible blood groups
Your blood group and the recipient's blood group must be compatible. That does not mean they have to be exactly the same.
| Your blood group | You can donate to |
|---|---|
| A | A or B |
| B | B or AB |
| AB | AB |
| O | A, B, AB or O |
The rhesus factor (positive or negative) does not matter for this.
Tissue typing and crossmatch
Before a liver transplantation can take place, tests are done to see if the donor and the recipient are a good match. This reduces the chance that the recipient's body will reject the new liver.
Two tests for this are:
- Tissue typing (HLA typing)
Blood tests are used to see how well your tissue matches that of the recipient. - Crossmatching
Tests whether the recipient has antibodies against your liver. The blood of the donor and recipient is tested. In the event of a strong immune response (positive crossmatch), the chance that the liver will be rejected is very high. In that case, transplantation is not possible.
Tissue typing is always performed. Whether a crossmatch is also performed varies by transplant center.
To whom can you donate a part of your liver?
You can donate part of your liver during your lifetime to someone you know, for example because your partner, child, family member, or friend has a liver disease. But you can also donate to someone you do *not* know.
Do you want to donate part of your liver to someone you do not know? That is called being an altruistic donor. The donor and the recipient remain unknown to each other. To do this for the liver, you can register with the three hospitals that perform liver transplantations: Erasmus MC, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), or University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG).
Weighing pros and cons
Giving part of your liver to someone else is a wonderful gesture. But a lot comes at you as well. Review the pros and cons to make a well-considered decision.
Pros
For the recipient of a piece of your liver, there are advantages compared to a liver from a deceased donor.
A better life for someone else
You give someone a better life or can even save a life. This means a lot to this person. You also help the people around the patient. Are you giving part of your liver to your partner or family member? Then life often becomes calmer and more normal for all of you again.
Surgery can be planned
It is an advantage that the transplantation can be scheduled at a good time for both of you. The surgery is in the same hospital.
The liver usually starts working immediately after the surgery. With a transplantation using an organ from a deceased donor, it can take a while before the liver starts working.
Positive for the waiting list
There are too few donor livers from deceased people. Therefore, there is a waiting list. Patients often have to wait a long time for a transplantation. People still die while on the waiting list for a liver.
Living liver donation can be beneficial for patients on the waiting list for a liver from a deceased donor.
- Does an adult need a liver transplant? Then they will no longer be placed on the waiting list or will be removed from it.
- Is it a child? Then they will remain on the waiting list until the day of the surgery.
By donating a liver while living, a liver therefore becomes available more quickly for someone else on the waiting list.
On the waiting list for a donor liver
New URLhttps://transplantatiestichting.nl/wachtlijst/orgaan/lever
Liver often lasts longer
If you give part of a liver to someone else, that is often better. The liver of a living donor is of good quality. Attention is paid to this during the screening of the donor. As a result, a liver from a living donor on average lasts longer than a liver from someone who has died.
Disadvantages
Donating a part of your liver is a wonderful and valuable gesture. But there are also disadvantages. You will undergo surgery and that always entails risks. You also need time to recover.
Medical examination required
Before you can donate, you undergo extensive medical examinations. Those take time. Sometimes something is found that you wouldn't have known otherwise. That can be nice, but it can also have unpleasant consequences.
Risks of surgery and recovery
With any surgery, something can go wrong, including with this surgery. Usually these are mild problems that resolve on their own or are easily treatable, but sometimes they are bigger problems.
Living without a gallbladder
During a liver donation, the surgeon also removes the gallbladder. The gallbladder helps with the digestion of fats. You can easily live without a gallbladder. But sometimes an adjustment to your diet is necessary.
When donating a small part of the left liver (for example for a child), the gallbladder is usually left in place.
Relationship with recipient can change
Is the recipient an acquaintance? Keep in mind that the donation can change your relationship. Often you get a stronger bond. But tensions can also arise. For example, if the other person does not 'take good care of your liver' and lives unhealthily.
If your liver does not work as well after all or you feel less well yourself after the surgery, this can be emotionally heavy for both of you.
“My sister-in-law gave part of her liver to my little daughter Ziva. And saved her life. The gratitude I feel is beyond description.”
Costs and reimbursements
Many of the expenses you incur as a donor are reimbursed, even if the donation ultimately does not take place.
Your health insurer pays the medical costs, such as the screening, surgery, and follow-up checks. You do not pay anything from your own deductible for the donation.
Sometimes you have to spend extra money, such as on parking fees or for household help. You may also temporarily have a lower income. You can apply for a reimbursement for these kinds of things.
You do not have to make the choice to donate part of your liver alone. There are people who can think along with you and guide you.
Who can help you make the decision?
It often helps to talk to others about it. For example with:
- A living donation coordinator at one of the 3 liver transplant hospitals (ErasmusMC, LUMC, or UMCG).
- Your general practitioner.
- Family, friends, or other people in your circle.
- Someone who has donated part of their liver themselves (ask the hospital about this).
Register
Have you decided that you want to give part of your liver to someone else? Then you can register at a transplant hospital.
- Do you want to give a liver to someone you know? Then contact your recipient's transplant hospital.
- Is it someone you do not know? Then register at a transplant hospital in the Netherlands.
Questions or register?
Contact with transplant hospitals in the Netherlands that perform liver transplants:
- Groningen UMCG: E-mail or registration form
- Leiden LUMC: E-mail or registration form
- Rotterdam Erasmus MC: Contact and email
Good to know: You may change your mind at any time and decide to stop. Even if you have already had examinations. Even just before the surgery.
Decided to donate a liver?
Read about what examinations you will undergo in the hospital and how the surgery and recovery will proceed.