Age and Donor Safety in Living-Donor Liver Transplant in 110 Consecutive Cases at 1 Institute

Abstract

Objectives: Since Japan began doing living-donor liver transplants, the demographics of living donors, including their age, have changed. We sought to assess the impact of aging on the feasibility and safety of doing a hepatectomy in living donors.

Materials and Methods: We analyzed data from 110 consecutive liver donors who had undergone a hepatectomy at our institution. To extract the graft, 34 patients had a lateral segmentectomy, 38 had a left lobectomy, and 38 had a right lobectomy.

Results: Mean intraoperative blood loss was significantly greater in older donors (age > 40 years) than it was in younger donors (age ≤ 40 years). In addition, the mean number of days required for the serum albumin level to return to normal after surgery was significantly longer in older donors (34.3 ± 11.9 days vs 17.1 ± 9.7 days). A multivariate analysis showed donor age to be a significant risk factor for prolonged serum albumin recovery.

Conclusions: Donor age is a significant factor affecting postoperative liver functioning in the donor.