Results of living-donor liver transplantation in Hong Kong

At Queen Mary Hospital, the University of Hong Kong Medical Centre, 88 live-donor liver transplantations were performed between 1993 and 2001. Sixteen children received left lateral segment grafts, one child received a left-lobe graft, five adults received left-lobe grafts, and 66 adults received right-lobe grafts, all from family members or friends. Five children (29%) and 29 adults (40%) were managed in the intensive care unit before liver transplantation. There was no donor mortality. The overall survival rate of the pediatric patients was 75% (12/16). When left-lobe grafts were used in adult patients, the survival rate was 100% (3/3) for those with fulminant hepatic failure, and 0% (2/2) for those with cirrhosis. With the use of rightlobe grafts, the overall survival rate was 83% (55166). There was no difference in the long-term survival of patients undergoing elective or emergency transplantation.