Current status of pediatric deceased donor liver transplantation: Lessons learned from a high-volume center in Japan where living donation remains predominant.

Background: In Japan, a recent gradual increase in deceased donor donation has expanded opportunities for pediatric patients to obtain deceased grafts.

Methods: Forty-three children underwent deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) at our institute before February 2020. Twenty-five patients received a split or reduced graft and 18 patients received a whole graft.

Waiting list mortality for pediatric deceased donor liver transplantation in a Japanese living-donor-dominant program.

Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has become a major life-saving procedure for children with end-stage liver disease in Japan, whereas deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) has achieved only limited success. The annual number of pediatric liver transplantations is approximately 100-120, with a patient 20-year survival rate of 81.0%.