Living Donor Liver Transplant Program

Please call the Mass General Brigham Liver Transplant team at 617-643-5202 or complete our online form to begin the living donor evaluation process.

No, donors and recipients do not need to be related to undergo living liver transplant surgery. However, they must both meet certain eligibility requirements.

Naturally, a liver has a right lobe and a left lobe. During living donor liver surgery, the surgeons split the liver into two independently functioning lobes. Either the right lobe or the left lobe of the liver is then removed and transplanted into a recipient whose own liver is no longer working properly.

The living donor's remaining liver lobe regrows to its normal size, volume and capacity within a couple of months after the living donor liver surgery. At the same time, the portion of the liver that was transplanted into the recipient also grows and restores normal, healthy liver function.

Donors must be between the ages of 18 and 55 and have no serious medical problems. All people who volunteer to become living liver donors at Mass General Brigham undergo an extensive evaluation to ensure that they meet the requirements to donate safely. There are many factors that go into this evaluation.

The living liver donor evaluation begins when you call our living donor team at 617-643-5202 or complete our secure online form. A member of our living donor team will contact you to learn more about your health history and schedule a convenient time for you to undergo evaluation to determine if you are eligible to become a living donor.

The evaluation process takes approximately two weeks and requires three in-person visits to the Transplant Center at Mass General, Brigham and Women’s Hospital or another Mass General Brigham community location. The surgery is scheduled at the convenience of the donor and recipient. Following surgery, donors stay in the hospital for about five to seven days to recover under the care of our team. After discharge from the hospital, donors can expect a one-to-three-month recovery period.

The liver has the ability to regenerate (regrow) — in fact, it is the only organ in the body that is able to do so! A healthy liver grows back to its full size and restores full function within a few months following living donor surgery. The same is true for the recipient once the segment of the liver is transplanted.

Living liver donors must be in good physical and mental health in order to donate a portion of their liver. An important change that will need to be made in advance of living liver donation is to abstain from tobacco and alcohol before surgery and for at least six months after surgery.

Donors can typically return to their normal activities a few months after surgery. To allow time for the body to heal properly, donors are discouraged from strenuous physical activities for several weeks. Your doctor will provide information about what to expect for recovery.

As with any major surgery, there are risks associated with the living liver donor operation. Our donor’s safety is our top priority. The Mass General Brigham’s liver transplant team’s thorough living donor liver evaluation and testing process helps to minimize risks, as they are considered very carefully during the process in relation to the whole health of the donor. The team works hard to ensure the best possible outcomes for donors and recipients. Most donors can return to their normal activities within a few months after surgery.

Throughout the evaluation process and prior to surgery, our team will discuss all of the possible risks with you and answer any questions that you may have about the safety of the procedure.

The recipient’s health insurance will cover the donor’s medical expenses. This includes:

• Donor evaluation
• Surgery
• Hospitalization for recovery

However, certain costs are usually not covered by insurance or the hospital. These include travel, lodging, loss of income (from time off of work) and other related expenses.

If eligible, some donors may apply for additional financial assistance provided by the National Living Donor Assistance Center. This program will cover all travel, lodging, meals and incidental expenses incurred by the donor such as medical or surgical follow-up (within 90 days after the procedure).

Our team will help you to apply to this program.

Following liver donation, our care team will monitor you closely to ensure that you are healing and recovering well. You can expect to be discharged from the hospital after you have returned to eating and walking without difficulty. Once you’ve returned home, you will continue to receive follow-up care from our living liver donor team for a period of time.