Living-Donor Liver Transplant
Living-donor liver transplant (LDLT) replaces a diseased liver using a segment from a healthy living donor, most often the right lobe in adults. It treats end-stage liver disease, cirrhosis, acute liver failure, certain liver cancers, and metabolic liver conditions. Both the donor's remaining liver and the transplanted graft regenerate to near-normal size within weeks.
Medically reviewed by the Florence Healthcare medical team · Last reviewed June 2026
Overview
Living-donor liver transplant (LDLT) removes a portion of a healthy living donor's liver — most commonly the right lobe in adults — and transplants it into a recipient whose own liver has failed or is failing. Because liver tissue regenerates, both the donor's remaining liver and the new graft grow back to near-normal size within weeks. Florence Healthcare International offers the full range of living-donor and complex grafting techniques, allowing the team to match the right approach to each patient rather than relying on a single method.
Every international case begins long before travel. A dedicated international patient coordinator is assigned to guide you throughout, and our multidisciplinary transplant team reviews your medical records and imaging remotely to provide a second opinion before you commit to coming to Istanbul. Once your case is understood, you receive a transparent, itemized cost estimate so there are no surprises. The same coordinator helps arrange logistics, interpretation, and the lifelong follow-up that continues remotely after you return home.
Who is a candidate?
- Adults or children with end-stage liver disease, cirrhosis, or acute (sudden) liver failure
- Selected patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) that falls within accepted transplant criteria
- People with metabolic liver diseases where transplant corrects the underlying defect
- Patients with a willing, healthy, compatible living donor — often a close relative — who passes thorough evaluation
- Candidates well enough to undergo major surgery, as confirmed by cardiac, pulmonary, and anaesthetic assessment
- Those able to commit to lifelong immunosuppressant medication and regular follow-up
What happens
- 1
Preparation & donor evaluation
Recipient and potential donor undergo detailed testing — blood work, imaging, and assessment of liver volume and blood-vessel anatomy. Both receive psychological counselling, and donor safety and fully informed, voluntary consent are central before any surgery is scheduled.
- 2
Choosing the technique
The team selects the most suitable graft strategy for your anatomy and needs — adult right-lobe donation, split-liver, dual-lobe from two donors, domino, or a swap/paired exchange — and explains the plan to you and your family.
- 3
The transplant surgery
Under general anaesthesia, surgeons remove the graft from the donor while the recipient's diseased liver is taken out, then implant and connect the new graft's blood vessels and bile ducts. Donor and recipient are cared for by separate dedicated teams.
- 4
Recovery & follow-up
Both patients are monitored closely after surgery, starting with intensive care for the recipient. As the liver regenerates, medication is fine-tuned. Your coordinator arranges ongoing, lifelong follow-up — including remote monitoring of labs and immunosuppression once you are home.
Benefits
- Shorter, planned waiting time compared with relying on a deceased-donor organ
- Surgery can be scheduled before the recipient becomes critically ill, often improving outcomes
- Living-donor grafts are typically high quality and the timing is controlled
- Access to advanced techniques (split, dual-lobe, domino, swap) that expand who can be treated
- The transplanted liver and donor's liver both regenerate to near-normal size within weeks
- Continuity of care with one coordinator and remote follow-up after returning home
Risks & considerations
- For the recipient: bleeding, infection, blood-clot or bile-duct complications, and possible graft rejection
- Lifelong immunosuppressant medication, which raises infection risk and requires monitoring
- For the donor: this is major surgery undertaken to help someone else; although serious complications are uncommon, it carries real risks — bleeding, infection, bile leak and a recovery period, and very rarely a risk to life — which is why donation must be entirely voluntary and fully informed
- Rarely, the graft may not function adequately and further treatment may be needed
- Risks vary by individual; the team discusses your personal risk profile in detail before you decide
- Both recipient and donor should contact the transplant team straight away if they develop a fever, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, wound redness or discharge, or unusual bleeding or bruising — even after returning home — as these can be signs of rejection, infection or a surgical complication needing urgent assessment
Conditions this treats
Where it is performed
This procedure is delivered by our Comprehensive Transplant Center.
Learn more before you decide
Provider-reviewed guides on the related conditions, symptoms and tests in our Health Library.
Living-Donor Liver Transplant — frequently asked questions
Beyond standard adult right-lobe donation, our team performs split-liver transplant (one donated liver divided between two recipients), dual-lobe or dual-graft transplant (grafts from two living donors combined for one recipient when a single lobe would be too small), domino transplant (a recipient whose removed liver remains usable — for example in certain metabolic diseases — donates it to another suitable patient), and swap or paired-exchange transplant (two incompatible donor–recipient pairs exchange donors so both can proceed). Having the full range lets the team choose the safest option for your situation.
Living donation is well established, and donors are often close relatives. Donor safety is our first priority: every potential donor undergoes thorough medical, anatomical, and psychological evaluation, and consent must be fully informed and entirely voluntary. The donor's liver regenerates to near-normal size within weeks. As with any major surgery there are real risks — including bleeding, infection and bile leak, and in rare cases a risk to life — which the team explains in full before anyone proceeds. Because a donor has surgery to help someone else, the decision must be entirely free and based on a complete understanding of these risks.
Liver transplant is highly individual, so we do not quote a fixed price. After our team reviews your records and imaging, you receive a transparent, itemized cost estimate covering the evaluation, surgery, hospital stay, and follow-up, personalized to your case. As a general guide, recipients usually stay in hospital around two to four weeks and donors often about a week, with additional recovery time nearby before travelling home — your coordinator confirms the expected timeline for your situation.
Yes. We encourage a remote review before any travel. You share your medical records and imaging with your dedicated international coordinator, and our multidisciplinary team studies them to provide a second opinion on whether transplant is appropriate and which technique may suit you. This lets you make an informed decision, and receive your itemized estimate, before committing to coming to Istanbul.
Related treatments
Considering living-donor liver transplant?
Share your reports for a medical second opinion and a transparent, itemized cost estimate — usually within 48 hours.