Adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation at the Asan Medical Center

Between February 1997 and December 2003, 580 adult-to-adult living donor liver transplants (A-A LDLTs) were performed at the Asan Medical Center for patients above 20 years of age. Indications for A-A LDLT were: chronic hepatitis B (309), chronic hepatitis C (18), hepatocellular carcinoma (144), alcoholic cirrhosis (20), Wilson's disease (4), autoimmune hepatitis (4), hepatic tuberculosis (1), cholangiocarcinoma (2), cryptogenic cirrhosis (5), secondary biliary cirrhosis (7), primary biliary cirrhosis (2), fulminant hepatic failure (18), primary sclerosing cholangitis (2), vanishing bile duct syndrome (1) and re-transplantation (4). Of 580 A-A LDLTs, 119 were of high medical urgency, 96 were for acute on chronic liver failure, 18 were for acute and subacute hepatic failure, I was for Wilson's disease, and 4 were for re-transplantation. Recipient age ranged from 20 to 69 years. The age of the donors ranged from 16 to 63 years. There was no donor mortality. Implanted liver grafts were categorized into seven types: 307 modified right lobes (MRL), 85 left lobes, 44 left lobe plus caudate lobes, 41 right lobes, 93 dual grafts, 5 extended right lobes, 4 posterior segments, and I extended left lateral segment. In the MRL, the tributaries of the middle hepatic vein were reconstructed by interpositioning a vein graft. Indication for dual graft implantation was the same as single graft A-A LDLT, and seventeen of 93 were emergency cases. As a right-sided graft, 47 received left lobes; 31 received a extended left lateral segment or a lateral segment; 13 received a right lobe with or without the reconstruction of middle hepatic vein tributaries; and 2 received a posterior segment. Graft volume ranged from 26.5% to 83% of the standard liver volume of the recipients. There were 46 (8.0%) one year mortalities among the 576 patients after 580 A-A LDLTs. Of the 119 patients who received emergency transplants, 108 (90.8%) survived. These encouraging results justify the expansion of A-A LDLT to adjust to increasing demands, even in urgent situations. We have aimed establish the efficacy of A-A LDLT in various end-stage chronic and acute liver diseases, as well as new technical advances to overcome the small-for-size graft syndrome by using dual-graft implantation and MRL, both of which were first developed in our department.