You must be either the same blood type as your recipient or blood type "O." Your Rh factor – positive (+) or negative (-) – does not affect your suitability to donate.
Donors must have a compatible blood type and liver anatomy that is suitable for donation. Potential liver donors must not have any serious medical conditions, such as liver disease, diabetes, heart disease or cancer.
a serious heart and/or lung condition, such as heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) a serious mental health or behavioural condition that means you would be unlikely to be able to follow the medical recommendations for life after a liver transplant.
Group O can donate red blood cells to anybody. It's the universal donor. Group AB can donate to other AB's but can receive from all others. Group B can donate red blood cells to B's and AB's.
For your liver to be a match with a transplant recipient, you have to share a compatible blood type and body size. Your body size determines the size of your liver, and size is important for the liver to work well.
Your Blood Type Is a Good Match
If you have Type O blood, you are a "universal donor" and can donate to anyone (although Type O liver recipients can only get organs from people who are also Type O).
Although mortality has traditionally been estimated at 1 in 250 for living donation, a more recent survey found a 1 in 1,000 chance of death among liver donors at experienced centers, and a morbidity rate of approximately 30%.
Livers from female donors yielded significantly poorer results, with 2-year graft survival of female to male 55% (95% CI, 45% to 67%); female to female, 64% (95% CI, 54% to 77%); male to male, 72% (95% CI, 66% to 78%); and male to female, 78% (95% CI, 70% to 88%).
Of the eight main blood types, people with Type O have the lowest risk for heart attacks and blood clots in the legs and lungs. This may be because people with other blood types have higher levels of certain clotting factors, which are proteins that cause blood to coagulate (solidify).
Is there an age limit for liver transplantation? The age limit is individualized as it varies with a patient's overall health condition. However, it is rare to offer liver transplant to someone greater than 70 years old.
Funni has survived for nearly 40 years. … Patients like Patti Funni inspire and give hope to other people facing challenging illness.” So much more hope has been given to others who have had liver transplants through Funni, who used to host “liver parties,” where she'd gather others who had liver transplants.
In general, about 75% of people who undergo liver transplant live for at least five years. That means that for every 100 people who receive a liver transplant for any reason, about 75 will live for five years and 25 will die within five years.
Can I be a living donor? If a liver transplant candidate is eligible to receive from a living donor, then a family member, relative or close friend can be considered for donation.
Some risks of living-donor liver transplant may include: Bile leakage — this occurs in a small subset of living-liver donors and most often resolves itself. Doctors can also aid the healing process by placing a tube in the liver. Infection — some living-liver donors may get an infection at the site of surgery.
A transplanted liver may be more sensitive to damage by chemicals, including alcohol. The transplantation team recommends that recipients avoid overuse of alcoholic beverages after transplantation.
You can give this lifesaving gift to a relative, a friend or even a stranger. Thousands of people in the United States are waiting for a liver from a deceased donor – but patients with a living donor have a much shorter wait time and a better chance for a successful liver transplant.
How Long Does It Take for a Liver to Regenerate After Donation? In a few months after surgery, your liver will regenerate back to its full size, and return to your pre-donation level of health. The other person's new liver will grow to full size as well, leaving both people with healthy, functioning livers.
The life expectancy of a Liver Donor:
As much as a person without liver transplant meaning the general population. Now you know that living liver donation has no impact on how long and healthy you will live.
Famous Type O personalities: Queen Elizabeth II, John Lennon or Paul Newman.
Rh-null blood can be accepted by anyone with a rare blood type in the Rh system. “Golden blood” is as rare in reality as it was in ancient Greek mythology: only forty-three people in the world are known to have had this blood type.
O negative blood is valuable because it can be transfused to anyone, regardless of their blood type. Hospitals need to have it on hand for emergencies. In addition, emergency services, including ambulances and helicopters, may also carry it to keep patients alive while they're being transported to a hospital.
Liver donors do not typically experience any serious long-term complications, in part because the liver is unique among the body's organs in its ability to regenerate. After giving part of one's liver, it will eventually return to close to its original size.
A living donor's liver fully regrows within 4 months and will ultimately regain full function. The donated portion does the same for the recipient. A liver from a deceased donor may also be split and transplanted into 2 recipients.
Reimbursement up to $2,000/week for up to 6 weeks.