Living organ donation

When it comes to living liver donation, expertise is key.

The Penn Transplant Institute was the first transplant center in the region to perform an adult-to-adult living liver transplant. Since then, our surgeons have performed at least 10 times more living donor liver transplants than other Philadelphia transplant teams. We’re one of the largest and most experienced liver transplant programs in the nation.

The shortage of liver donors in the United States is so severe that many patients die waiting. More than 15,000 patients are on the waiting list for liver transplants. In the greater Philadelphia region, more than 700 people are waiting.

As a liver donor, you have a remarkable advantage because you only donate a portion of your liver, and unlike most organs, your liver can regenerate. That means you can save a life by donating part of your liver, and fully recover when your remaining liver grows back to its original size within weeks.

At the Penn Medicine Center for Living Donation, donors are our focus.

Our Living Donor Liver Transplant program is the only program of its kind in the region to receive the highest possible designation from the Scientific Registry for Transplant Recipients (SRTR), in recognition that our care exceeds expectations and results in excellent survival outcomes.

Our doctors are also researchers seeking to make liver transplantation safer and more effective for donors and recipients.

We’re one of nine centers of excellence participating in the National Institute of Health-sponsored Adult-to-Adult Living Donor Liver Transplant consortium (A2ALL) that explores outcomes in living donor transplantation.