Living donor
A living donor refers to a healthy person who may be a blood relative of the recipient who needs a liver transplant. He can also be a close friend or non-blood relative who wishes to donate a portion of their liver. It could include:
- Relatives (parents, siblings, aunts/uncles, cousins)
- Political family
- Members of religious groups
- Family friends
- anonymous donors
What are the types of donor?
Deceased donor
These are patients diagnosed with brain death (BD), which usually occurs as a result of trauma/severe neurological diseases. There are cases in which death results from cardiorespiratory arrest (CPA). Thus, after confirmation of death and with family authorization, the donation is carried out.
Living donor
Any healthy person can be a living donor of one of their kidneys or part of their liver to a close relative (up to the 4th consanguineous degree), but when donating a kidney or part of their liver to a non-related person, it is necessary court authorization.
Benefits of a Living Donor Transplant:
Less Waiting Time
Living-donor transplants can be performed much sooner and can be scheduled at a time that is convenient for you and your donor.
Less Recovery Time
Normally, living donor recipients recover faster than those who receive organs from deceased donors.
Best Function and Quality
A section of liver from a living donor can usually work better and longer.
Help Save More Lives
Living-donor transplants can help increase the number of liver transplants and allow recipients to be taken off the waiting list. This can help shorten the time for others who are still waiting for a transplant.
Conditions for the donation
On the other hand, it is important to emphasize that the donation cannot be made if the donor is at risk for his own life. In this case, the decision is totally impracticable. Therefore, when donating a living and present person, the hospital ‘s ethics committee should review the information and see if it is favorable.
In addition, the donor must receive fully personalized information about the possible risks of his intervention so that he can make his decision with full conviction of cause. In turn, once the decision has been made, it must be formalized in writing to proceed with your desire to donate.
Furthermore, this type of donation only occurs when the possibility of success from a medical point of view is very high. Thus, the donor must receive personalized medical assistance to enhance his recovery process after surgery.
Finally, it should be noted that even the donor confirming the desire to donate, he is free to change his mind at any time.
