You don't have to have the exact blood type as the person who needs a new liver, but you need to be what's called "compatible." This can be figured out with a simple blood test.
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.
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.
You may be disqualified from having a liver transplant if you have: Current alcohol or drug abuse problems. Uncontrolled infection that will not go away with a transplant. Metastatic cancer or bile duct cancer.
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
Here's how it works: 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). If you are Type A, you can donate to those who are also Type A as well as Type AB.
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%.
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.
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%).
Avoid alcohol
If your liver transplant was due to an alcohol-related disease, you must never drink alcohol again as you risk harming your transplanted liver. This also applies if alcohol was thought to have contributed to your liver disease, even if it was not the main cause.
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).
Type O positive blood is critical in trauma care. Those with O positive blood can only receive transfusions from O positive or O negative blood types. Type O positive blood is one of the first to run out during a shortage due to its high demand.
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.
One half of the donors stay less then seven days after the surgery and the other half stay a while longer. Will I have a scar after the surgery? In most cases, the incision heals quickly, leaving a scar that fades over time but will always be visible. If a wound infection develops, you may be left with a wider scar.
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.
DONOR AND RECIPIENT AGE AND GENDER: IMPACT ON OUTCOMES OF LIVER TRANSPLANTATION. A recent study confirmed that recipients of gender-mismatched grafts had an 11% higher risk of graft loss.
If you donate part of your liver, the rest grows back to most of its original size within weeks. It then continues to grow slowly to reach its full size over the next year. You can give this lifesaving gift to a relative, a friend or even a stranger.
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.
Overall, infections are the most frequent cause of mortality in males and females, though they are significantly higher in females. In our cohort, the main causes of mortality within the first year after transplantation were infections and surgical complications in both sexes.
Most patients can return to a normal or near-normal activity and participate in fairly vigorous exercise six to 12 months after successful liver transplant surgery. Often, we let patients return to work and drive as little as two to three months after liver transplantation.
How long will my liver transplant last? Liver transplant can have excellent outcomes. Recipients have been known to live a normal life over 30 years after the operation.
Advancing age, sarcopenia, acute on chronic liver failure, and non-liver-related medical co-morbidities are common conditions that arise while on the wait-list that can render a patient too sick for transplant.
Is there an age limit to becoming an organ donor? No: There is no age limit for donation or to sign up. In 2021, one out of every three people who donated organs was over the age of 50.
A study cohort of 251 liver transplantation (LT) recipients were followed up for 20 years. The actual 20-year patient survival rate was 62.6% in 207 adult living donor LT recipients, 68.2% in 22 adult deceased donor LT recipients, and 77.3% in 22 pediatric LT recipients.