Long-term follow-up of living liver donors: A single-center experience

The long-term follow-up of the living liver donors

Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been proposed in many countries to reduce organ shortage. While the early postoperative outcomes have been well investigated, little is known about the long-term follow-up of the living donors. We, therefore, designed a systematic review of the literature to explore long-term complications and quality of life among living donors. We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE registries for studies published since 2013 that specifically addressed long-term follow-up following living-donor liver donation, concerning both physical and psychological aspects. Publications with a follow-up shorter than 1 year or that did not clearly state the timing of outcomes were excluded. A total of 2505 papers were initially identified. After a thorough selection, 17 articles were identified as meeting the eligibility criteria. The selected articles were mostly from North America and Eastern countries. Follow-up periods ranged from 1 to 11.5 years. The most common complications were incision site discomfort (13.2-38.8%) and psychiatric disorders (1-22%). Biliary strictures occurred in 1-14% of cases. Minimally invasive donor hepatectomy could improve quality of life, but long-term data are limited. About 30 years after the first reported LDLT, little has been published about the long-term follow-up of the living donors. Different factors may contribute to this gap, including the fact that, as healthy individuals, living donors are frequently lost during mid-term follow-up. Although the reported studies seem to confirm long-term donor safety, further research is needed to address the real-life long-term impact of this procedure.

Long-term medical and quality of life outcomes among voluntary liver donors

BACKGROUND

Long-term medical and quality of life (QOL) outcomes in voluntary liver donors remain under investigated. The objective of the current study was to report long-term medical outcomes and re-evaluate QOL in living liver donors.

METHODS

This was a single-center retrospective cohort study of donors who underwent donor hepatectomy between 2012 and 2018. We investigated long-term outcomes in 7 domains. These include medical problems, surgical procedures, work-related issues, pregnancy outcomes, psychiatric interventions, willingness to donate again, and long-term mortality. QOL was evaluated using short-form 36.

RESULTS

The median follow-up time was 61.4 months (53.3-83.7). Among 698 donors, 80 (11.5%) experienced medical problems, 4 (0.6%) had work-related issues, and 20 (2.9%) needed psychiatric assistance. Surgery was performed in 49 donors (7%), and females were more likely to have undergone incisional hernia repair (5.8% vs 1.9%, P = .006). There were 79 postdonation pregnancies including 41 normal vaginal deliveries (51.9%), 35 cesarean sections (44.3%), and 3 miscarriages (3.8%). Willingness to donate again was reported by 658 donors (94.3%). Donors whose recipients were alive were more likely to donate again (95.5% vs 90.5%, P = .01). There were 3 deaths (0.4%) in the long-term. The mean physical composite score at initial and follow-up evaluation was 86.7 ± 13.9 and 76.5 ± 20.9 (P = .001), and the mean mental composite score at initial and follow-up evaluation was 92.1 ± 13.5 and 80.7 ± 16 (P = .001).

CONCLUSION

The overall long-term outlook in living liver donors is promising. QOL parameters might deteriorate over time and frequent re-evaluation might be considered.

Autoimmune Hepatitis on a Living Liver Donor: An Unexpected Long-Term Complication

In Western countries, deceased donor liver transplantation remains the standard of care for patients with end-stage liver disease. Living donor liver transplantation is a viable and feasible strategy for patients with end-stage liver disease designed to mitigate the deceased organ shortage. Donor safety is the primary concern because liver donors, ideally, should not have any complication. We report a case of middle-aged woman without a history of chronic liver disease who developed autoimmune hepatitis more than 20 years after live liver donation. Changes in these patients' liver enzymes should prompt swift referral to an hepatologist for initial liver disease work-up.

The effect of a web-based self-care instruction on symptom experience and quality of life in living liver donors: A randomized controlled trial

Objective

Living liver donors need help to manage symptom distress and improve their quality of life. This study aims to test the effectiveness of a web-based symptom self-care instruction on symptom experience and health-related quality of life of living liver donors.

Methods

This study was a randomized controlled trial. Participants were recruited from January 2019 to August 2020. Participants in the experimental group had access to a web-based symptom self-care instruction, which included text and video. The control group received routine care. The primary outcomes were symptom distress and quality of life.

Results

A total of 90 living liver donors recruited in this study were assigned randomly to the web group (n = 46) and control group (n = 44). The symptom distress was significantly negatively correlated with quality of life at each data collection time. There was an interaction effect with the participants in the web group experiencing more symptom distress at three months after surgery than the control group (B = 3.616, 95% CI: 7.163-3.990, p = 0.046). There was no significant effect on the quality of life.

Conclusion

Patients in the web-based self-care group had higher symptom distress than those in the control group three months after surgery, but there was no difference in quality of life. Future studies could add some interactive elements to the website and include a larger sample size.

Registration

This study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900020518).