Finding a Liver Match

Liver matching is different from kidney matching because a liver transplant does not require an exact blood type or tissue match. Instead, transplant teams consider several factors to determine whether a donor and recipient are a good match.

Blood type: Blood type compatibility is an important consideration. Some blood types can donate to or receive from certain other blood types, while some combinations are not compatible.

Liver size: The donor’s liver must be an appropriate size for the recipient. The transplant team considers factors such as the donor’s and recipient’s body size and anatomy.

Overall health: Living liver donors must be healthy enough to safely undergo surgery and have enough liver remaining after donation to maintain normal liver function.

Anatomy: The donor’s liver anatomy, blood vessels, and bile ducts must be suitable for transplantation.

Ultimately, the transplant team evaluates the donor and recipient individually to determine whether living donation is medically appropriate.