The impact of the model for end-stage liver disease on recipient selection for adult living liver donation

Key Points 1. The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) system can be used to assess recipient pre-transplant risks and help select appropriate candidates for the adult to adult living donation liver transplant procedure. 2. Selection of candidates for the adult to adult living donation liver transplant procedure requires assessment of candidate risk of death without a transplant, risk of death with a transplant, and donor risk of death. 3. Understanding of the risks involved allows for development of clinical decision models to inform the risk benefit analyses. 4. MELD provides a useful, objective, and universal tool for clinicians around the world to estimate risks for clinical decision making in all forms of liver transplantation.