Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital has successfully completed the first living donor liver transplant in its history, a May 23 press release announced.
Typically, liver transplants are performed using organs from deceased donors. A liver transplant from a living donor requires that a small portion of the donor's liver be transplanted into the patient. Both will regrow to full size and functionality in the living donor as well as the patient.
Patient outcomes receiving a transplant from a living donor tend to be better than those who receive transplants from deceased donors, according to the press release. The procedure is not more common because the operation to perform a living transplant is more complex and it is less common to find a living donor. However, the hospital notes that becoming a living donor reduces patient time on the transplant waitlist drastically.
While this is the first living donor liver transplant Tampa General has performed, the hospital is well versed in organ transplants overall. In 2022, the facility performed 682 transplants, which was a 20 percent increase in procedures performed from the year prior.