Living-Donor Liver Transplant: An Analysis of Postoperative Outcome and Health-Related Quality of Life in Liver Donors.

Objectives: Living-donor liver transplant represents an established alternative to deceased-donor liver transplant. The procedure is considered safe for donors; however, concerns about the donors' health-related quality of life and health status have not been fully addressed. Here, we aimed to assess the health-related quality of life and postoperative and 1-year clinical outcomes in living liver transplant donors.

Materials And Methods: All patients undergoing liver resection for adult-to-adult living-donor liver transplant at our center between December 1999 and March 2013 were evaluated retrospectively. Health-related quality of life was evaluated in a second assessment through written health-related quality of life questionnaires (the Short Form 36 assessment tool) sent to all patients who underwent liver resection for living-donor liver transplant between 1989 and 2012.

Results: We identified 104 patients who underwent liver resection for living-donor liver donation between December 1999 and March 2013. Postoperative morbidity was 35.9%, with 56.8% of patients having minor complications. No postoperative, 30-day, or 90-day mortality was evident. At year 1 after transplant, 30 patients (28.8%) had (ongoing) complications, of which 80% were considered minor according to Clavien-Dindo classification. Regarding health-related quality of life, liver donors were characterized as having significantly higher scores in the general health perception component in the Short Form 36 assessment tool (P < .001). We found no significant results in other assessment components (all P > .05).

Conclusions: Liver donors are characterized by an excellent health-related quality of life that is comparable to the general population. Because some donors tend to have concerns regarding their employment status after the procedure, a comprehensive and critical evaluation of potential donors is needed.