Sj. Cotler et al., Adult living donor liver transplantation: Preferences about donation outside the medical community, LIVER TRANS, 7(4), 2001, pp. 335-340
An increasing number of transplant centers are performing adult living dono
r liver transplantation (LDLT). We evaluated peoples' perspectives on possi
ble outcomes of living donation, thresholds for donating, and views regardi
ng the donation process, One hundred fifty people were surveyed; half were
from a medical care group serving an indigent population and half were from
a private clinic. Preferences about outcomes of adult living donation were
ranked and quantified on a visual analogue scale, Thresholds for donation
to a loved one were quantified. Sixty percent of the respondents suggested
they would prefer to donate and die and have the transplant recipient live
rather than forgo donation and have the potential transplant recipient die
of liver failure. Participants' stated threshold For living donation was a
median survival for themselves of only 79%. They would require that their l
oved one have a median survival of 55% with transplantation before they wou
ld agree to donate. Respondents from the medical care group reported higher
survival thresholds for themselves and the transplant recipient, and race
was the most statistically significant predictor of those thresholds, Sex w
as more predictive of threshold probabilities from the private clinic. Eigh
ty-one percent of the respondents believed that the potential donor, not a
physician, should have the final say regarding candidacy for living donatio
n. In conclusion, the findings of this survey support the use of adult LDLT
, Most respondents were willing to accept mortality rates that far exceed t
he estimated risk of donation and favored outcomes in which a loved one was
saved.