posted on Sep, 14 2007 @ 11:39 PM
Well, it does not really work that way.
cirrhosis is sort of a global liver injury and even the liver can get to the point of no return. So you would have to take the lobe out and keep it
going while the person destroyed thier liver (alcohol, heppatitis, short gut syndrom in children et al.) and then transplant it back in. It just wont
work because you cannot keep the liver that long.
A healthy liver will grow back and we see alot of "living related" donors esp in peiatrics. A parent will donate a lobe and it will then grow with
the child. Also for regular organ donation a liver is often 'split with the larger portion going to an adult and the smaller lobe to a child.
Yes in some cases the liver will grow back and there is some literature from MD's in the UK adding a split liver for patients who overdosed on
Tylenol, let the damaged liver heal, and then take out the donor organ. But it can only be done under very limited ocnditions etc.