Living Donors Online!

| LDO Home | General | Kidney | Liver | Marrow | Other | Message Board |

Other Forms of Living Donation

There are many forms of living donation. This page includes information and links to sites with more details on living donation other than kidney, liver, and bone marrow. Click on the subject of interest below.

Living Lung Donation | Living Pancreas Donation | Blood Donation 

Living Skin Donation | Living Intestine Donation

Living Lung Donation

Living lung donation requires two donors—one person giving one lobe and the other giving another lobe. The two lobes are combined to form a single lung for the recipient. This procedure is considered high risk to donors but may be the only practical alternative to waiting for a deceased donation. UNOS data report the first living lung donation in 1990. The number of donations peaked at 58 in 1999 but have declined since then to only a few per year.

• Details, including pictures, of living-related lobar donation from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

• Medical research article on living lobar donation  in children. (A PDF file.)

• Abstract of medical study of the effect of lobar donation on living donors.

• Overview on the Second Wind web site.

• Web page with a brief overview of living lung donation by the American Society of Transplantation.

Living Pancreas Donation

Donation of a portion of a pancreas is still experimental. UNOS data show zero to four donations per year since 2001. However, the University of Minnesota web site says they have conducted 120 live-donor pancreas transplants since 1998. Information on the procedure is scarce.

• Information from a diabetes FAQ

• Press release on living donor islet transplantation from University of Alberta

• Web page with a brief overview of living pancreas donation by the American Society of Transplantation.

Blood Donation

Donating blood is commonplace, and there are several sites with information:

• America's Blood Centers

• American Red Cross

• Australian Red Cross

• National Blood Service—blood donation in England and North Wales.

Living Skin Donation

We have not found any programs that provide for living skin donation. Here is a link that explains:

• An older discussion of skin donation from TransWeb.

Living Intestine Donation

It is possible to donate a portion of your intestine. This procedure is very rare: UNOS data show fewer than 10 procedures per year.

• Web page with a brief overview of living intestine donation by the American Society of Transplantation.

• Press release on living intestine procedure performed at University of Massachusetts.

© 2011 International Association of Living Organ Donors, Inc.