Live Liver Donation essays

Live Liver Donation essays Live Liver Donation Living liver donation is a relatively new phenomenon. The first procedure was performed in 1989 with adult-to-adult donations starting in 1995. In this report I would like to explore the assessment and procedure of live liver donation, the risks and effects, and the direction it is taking medicine in the future. The very nature of taking part of a living persons liver and implanting it into another person is cause for questions and curiosity. One might want to know what the long-term effects on a living liver donor are. Due to the recency of the procedure, data is not yet available on the long-term effects. Information so far is anecdotal in the sense there has been only one reported death and no published incidents of failing health as a consequence of living donation; there have been no formal studies we are aware of. The limited information on short-term effects suggests complications arising from the surgery are few and manageable. For the most part they are covered by insurance. Policies vary, and some may exclude this procedure as "experimental," so you'll want to check the insurance policy of the transplant recipient. (It is the recipient's policy that pays.) As with kidney donation, there is interest by some members of the general population in making a "non-directed" donation, which is a donation that goes to anyone waiting for a liver transplant. You can contact your local organ procurement organization to see if they have a program. It is also possible to donate to a friend or family member where there is an emotional but not a biological tie. The transplant center will let you know what their policy is concerning such unrelated donation. It is becoming more common to allow such donation, although United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) data show this form of donation is still unusual. Facilities performing the procedures cu...