Liver Transplant Survival Rate Higher in Living Donor Transplants

The clinical team at the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation (CLDT) at NYPH and Columbia University reports that living donor liver transplants produce a significantly higher 1 year and three year survival rate than decesased donor transplants.   Living donor transplant recipient survival rates exceed 90% for living donors.  By contrast, deceased donor one year survival rate are just over 86% and three year survival rates are just over 73%.

According to researchers a the CLDT, living donors are likely to be in better health, with donors carefully screened for compatibility.

Donated liver tissue can regenerate, which is why living donor transplantation is feasible.  Still, over 17,000 patients annually await suitable livers for transplantation, with suitable deceased donor livers sufficient to treat only 6,700 potential recipients each year.