Background: Donor hepatectomy for living donor liver transplantation accompanies physio-morphological changes of the liver and spleen. Therefore, the long-term consequences of these organs should be characterized to ensure donor's safety.
Methods: A total of 382 right liver harvests for liver transplantation were performed from October 2000 to February 2011. Clinical parameters across donor operations were compared, and the associations were investigated.
Results: The remaining liver grew continually, reaching 81.5 ± 11.2% of the entire liver until 6 months after donation. The spleen grew to 143.1 ± 28.8% of the pre-donation value within 1 week after surgery, and thereafter, its size decreased gradually to 130.6 ± 25.1% at 6 months. At 6 months post-donation, 48.1% (114/237) of donors showed an increase of ≥30% in splenic volume, and 15.9% (50/315) of donors exhibited a decrease of ≥30% in platelet count. However, patients with splenic enlargement and/or decrease in platelet count at 6 months post-donation were not different in liver function, liver regeneration, or overall complications.
Conclusions: Although splenic enlargement and/or decrease in platelet count can persist for more than 6 months after donation in patient population after donor right hepatectomy, such a change did not impact donor's safety.