Long-term medical and quality of life outcomes among voluntary liver donors

Abstract

BackgroundLong-term medical and quality of life outcomes in voluntary liver donors remain under investigated. The objective of the current study was to report long-term medical outcomes and re-evaluate quality of life in living liver donors. MethodsThis was a single center retrospective cohort study of donors who underwent donor hepatectomy between 2012 and 2018. We investigated long-term outcomes in seven domains. These include medical problems, surgical procedures, work related issues, pregnancy outcomes, psychiatric interventions, willingness to donate again, and long-term mortality. Quality of life was evaluated using short-form 36. ResultsThe median follow-up time was 61.4(53.3-83.7) months. Among 698 donors, 80 (11.5%) experienced medical problems, four (0.6%) had work related issues, and 20(2.9%) needed psychiatric assistance. Surgery was performed in 49(7%) donors, and females were more likely to have undergone incisional hernia repair (5.8% vs. 1.9%, P=0.006). There were 79 post-donation pregnancies including 41(51.9%) normal vaginal deliveries, 35(44.3%) cesarean sections, and three (3.8%) miscarriages. Willingness to donate again was reported by 658(94.3%) donors. Donors whose recipients were alive were more likely to donate again (95.5% vs. 90.5%, P=0.01). There were three (0.4%) deaths in the long-term. The mean physical composite score at initial and follow-up evaluation was 86.7±13.9 and 76.5± 20.9(P=0.001), and the mean mental composite score at initial and follow-up evaluation was 92.1± 13.5 and 80.7 ±16 (P=0.001). ConclusionThe overall long-term outlook in living liver donors looks promising. Quality of life parameters might deteriorate over time and frequent re-evaluation might be considered.