Beliefs of Living Donors About Recipients' End-Stage Liver Failure and Surgery for Organ Donation

Moderating Role of Religiosity and the Determinants to Attitude, Willingness to Donate and Willingness to Communicate Posthumous Organ Donation Decisions among University Students in Pakistan

Organ transplantation is considered an alternative treatment to save lives or to improve the quality of life and is a successful method for the treatment of patients with end-stage organ diseases. The main objective of the current study was to explore the determinants of the attitudes and willingness to communicate the posthumous organ donation decisions to the families. Questionnaires were used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results confirmed altruism, knowledge, empathy, and self-identity as the antecedents to attitude. We also found perceived behavioral control, moral norms, and attitude as significant antecedents to the willingness to donate organs after death. The results of the study also indicated that those who were willing to sign the donor card were also willing to communicate their decision to their families. Religiosity moderated the relationship between willingness to donate and signing the donor card, and it strengthened the relationship. The findings of this study would provide insight into the factors which can influence posthumous organ donation among university students in Pakistan.

Understanding the Long-Term Impact of Living-Related Liver Transplantation on Youth and Young Adults and their Family

PURPOSE

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to better understand the long term impact of living-related liver donation (LRLD) on youth and young adult (YYA) recipients and their family.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Semistructured interviews were conducted with YYA, aged 11-18 years, who received a living donation from a parent. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed to aggregate themes that represented the participants' views as live-liver recipients. An ethnographic process was conducted to understand the participants' social behavior. At interview, participants completed a demographics questionnaire and the Youth Quality of Life Instrument-Research Version (YQOL-R).

RESULTS

Thirteen adolescents were interviewed; six were re-interviewed as key informants. Three major categories were created from the data: Developing Identity, Redefining Family Relationships, Feeling Gratitude to Donors. The overarching theme was Resiliency. Findings from the YQOL-R showed no difference in overall scores or separate domains when compared with a reference population with no chronic illness.

CONCLUSION

Qualitative and quantitative data highlight the positive effect that LRLD can have on pediatric patients as they transition from childhood to adolescence to young adulthood.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

As pediatric transplant centers in the United States soon mark 30 years of performing live-liver donation, recipients are becoming adults and understanding more clearly that the long-term effects of such donations will lead to improvements in future care.

Complications and outcomes of 890 living liver donor hepatectomies at a single center: risks of saving loved one's life

OBJECTIVES

Living liver donor surgery is a major surgical procedure applied to healthy people with mortality and morbidity risks and does not provide any direct therapeutic advantage to the donor. We retrospectively analyzed the postoperative complication of our living liver donors to figure out the risks of donation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Between November, 2006 and December, 2018, a total of 939 living liver donor hepatectomies were performed with no mortality to the living-related donors. Eight hundred and ninety donors with a minimum 1-year follow-up were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTS

Of the 890 donors, 519 (58.3%) were males and 371 (41.7%) were females. Mean age was 35 years (18-64) and mean body mass index was 25.7 kg/m2 (17.7-40). Right donor hepatectomy was performed to 601 (67.5%), left donor hepatectomy to 28 (3.2%) and left lateral sector hepatectomy to 261 (29.3%) of the donors. Of the 890 donors, 174 (19.5%) donors experienced a total of 204 early and late complications including life- threatening and nearly life- threatening complications in 26 (2.9%) of them. Intraoperative complication occurred in 4 (0.5%) donors. Right donors hepatectomy complication rate (23.3%) was higher than left donor (14.3%) and left lateral sector donor hepatectomy (11.5%).

CONCLUSION

All donor candidates should be well-informed not only on the details of early and late complications of living liver donation, also possible outcomes of the recipient. In addition to detailed physical evaluation, preoperative psychosocial evaluation is also mandatory. Comprehensive donor evaluation, surgical experience, surgical technique, close postoperative follow-up and establishing a good dialog with the donor allows better outcomes.