2016 Volume 51 Issue 6 Pages 464-469
After the Act on Organ Transplant was revised to include an opting-in system by agreement from donors' family members without their antemortem consent and to permit the donation from pediatric donors younger than 15 years in July 2010, the number of deceased donor transplants was expected to increase dramatically. But the total number of liver transplants from deceased donors did not change significantly, and the majority of pediatric recipients still must rely on living donors. On the other hand, split-liver transplantation is an option for the expansion of the donor organ pool and enables the possibility of liver transplantation for two recipients with end-stage liver disease. Although an initial experience of split-liver transplantation in Japan had acceptable outcomes, further considerations of the techniques and indications are needed to expand its application. This is a report on the current status and issues of deceased-donor split-liver transplantations in Japan.
