Cell & Tissue Transplantation & Therapy

This review portrays the living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) scenario in Asia with emphasis on the role played by Taiwan in meeting the objective of offering LDLT as a life-saving procedure in the treatment of end-stage liver disease. In the West, although LDLT has been offered as a solution to overcome the shortage of organs, in the East, liver transplantation is synonymous with LDLT. Endemic hepatitis B and C viral infections remain the most common indication for transplantation in the East. LDLT helps to leverage maximum benefits in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma by a reduction in waiting time mortality and offering scope for adopting more liberal acceptance criteria. Although several challenges unique to this specialty have been faced time and again, there is no denying that LDLT has offered comparable or even better results than that of deceased donor liver transplantation. Minimizing donor risk and ensuring safe donor surgery should be the objective instead of tunnel vision on benefits to the recipient.