Liver Transplant

Living Donors

Preparation
Procedure
Recovery

Procedure

You will be asked to donate blood before surgery in case you need it. During the surgery, about 40 percent to 60 percent of your liver will be removed.

The liver is divided into a right lobe and a left lobe. The anatomical division between the lobes permits surgeons to divide the liver into two distinct parts that can function independently of each other. The right lobe comprises about 60 percent of the total liver volume and the left lobe comprises approximately 40 percent.

When the recipient is a child, a piece of the donor's left lobe, called the left lateral segment, is removed. In adults, the larger right lobe, or right lateral segment, is removed. Surgery on the donor and the recipient take place at the same time, in separate operating rooms.

When adults donate to adults, the gallbladder is removed because it is in the path of the right lobe of the liver. When adults donate to children the gallbladder is usually not removed, because the gallbladder is not an obstacle to the left lobe of the liver.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated May 23, 2007