Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2018; 24(23): 2441-2456
Published online Jun 21, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i23.2441
Feasibility of using marginal liver grafts in living donor liver transplantation
Xiang Lan, Hua Zhang, Hong-Yu Li, Ke-Fei Chen, Fei Liu, Yong-Gang Wei, Bo Li
Xiang Lan, Hua Zhang, Ke-Fei Chen, Fei Liu, Yong-Gang Wei, Bo Li, Department of Liver Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Hong-Yu Li, Department of Pancreatic Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Lan X and Zhang H contributed equally to this study and participated in the research design and manuscript preparation; Li HY, Chen KF, and Liu F generated the tables and figures; and Li B and Wei YG revised the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Bo Li, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Liver Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, 37 Guoxue Road, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. hxcdlibo@126.com
Telephone: +86-18980601470
Received: March 25, 2018
Peer-review started: March 26, 2018
First decision: April 18, 2018
Revised: May 4, 2018
Accepted: May 18, 2018
Article in press: May 18, 2018
Published online: June 21, 2018
Processing time: 81 Days and 21.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: There are few reviews concerning the feasibility of using marginal liver grafts in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). We reviewed more than 300 articles, summarized new findings, and confirmed that marginal grafts are a feasible option for expanding options for patients on liver transplant waiting lists in emergency situations in LDLT (e.g., liver failure or hepatic encephalopathy). However, such grafts place the recipients at greater risk for adverse events. Although some indispensable treatments are needed to address the deficiencies of these grafts, recipients can receive a favorable prognosis, similar to that of patients who receive standard liver grafts, under these treatments.