09 November 2005 - Live Liver transplants get the go-ahead

As of April 2006, live liver transplants are to be carried out on the NHS at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. About five such operations are expected to take place next year, increasing to fifteen within three years.

The technique involves transplanting up to 60% of a donor's liver (a section about 13 cm long) in to the recipient. It is possible because the liver has an incredible ability to regenerate in both the recipient and the donor over a period of 3 months. Transplant charities have welcomed the initiative but have highlighted the need to make potential donors aware of the risks involved - the mortality rate amongst donors is 1 in 200 (compared to about 1 in 3000 for live kidney donors) and there is a 1 in 5 chance of complications (compared to 1% in kidney donors).

Andy Kerr, the Scottish Health Minister, said: "In Scotland 13 patients have died in each of the past two years and many more have had to be removed from the liver transplant waiting list because they have become too unwell while waiting for a donor organ. Living liver donations will offer a lifeline to patients who would previously only have had the option of waiting on this list."

John Forsyth, a consultant surgeon and clinical director at the ERI transplant unit, emphasised that the living donor option was only a small part of the solution and that it was important to increase the publicity for people to carry donor cards sanctioning the use of their organs after death.