A study conducted by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases due to be published in Hepatology in October found that patients who have received a living donor liver transplant (LDLT) have greater survival rates than those waiting for a deceased donor liver transplant (DDLT).
Transplantation is recommended for patients in end-stage liver disease when their lives are deemed to be at risk. In the first half of 2011 over 3000 liver transplants were performed in the US, with roughly 96% being DDLTs and 4% LDLTs.
The patients who received LDLTs as part of the study had a 56% lower risk of death than those on the waiting lists for DDLT. This research is posing questions regarding the optimum time for transplantation although future follow-up studies are needed to validate quality of life in those patients who received LDLTs.
