[thedoc (OP)]

Paul Anderson  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Could you comment on folk donating part of their liver to someone? How is the liver cut up? Do both halves grow into complete livers? Does it lessen the life expectancy of the donor and how much can it extend the life of the recipient?

I have been told of a case of a young high school girl who collapsed last week and was lucky enough to receive a liver from an accident victim in a 5 hour operation this morning, but I have been told she may now need a kidney transplant. Is this a typical situation or rather unusual, that one problem just leads on to another?

I know folk tell me it is better to replace two items in my car at times rather than just the one that has worn out or broken, e.g. brake shoes, etc. I suppose it can be the same with humans.
 
Regards
 
Paul
 
NZ
What do you think?

[alancalverd]

The liver is a very remarkable organ. It can sustain a huge amount of damage and regrow itself, so donating half a liver is no big deal - the organ will return to full size and function in 3 - 6 months.

It's more common for kidney malfunction to cause other organs to fail but it can happen either way round. Again, often no big deal as you can function pretty well with just one kidney if the other has sustained acute trauma, but iof both fail or are attacked by a disease, it turns out that a donor kiidney is less likely to be rejected if it is accompanied by a slice of donor liver. Same, apparently, with hearts and lungs - a slice of liver improves transplant outcomes for other organs.