<P> Human liver transplants were first performed by Thomas Starzl in the United States and Roy Calne in Cambridge, England in 1963 and 1967, respectively . </P> <P> Liver transplantation is the only option for those with irreversible liver failure . Most transplants are done for chronic liver diseases leading to cirrhosis, such as chronic hepatitis C, alcoholism, autoimmune hepatitis, and many others . Less commonly, liver transplantation is done for fulminant hepatic failure, in which liver failure occurs over days to weeks . </P> <P> Liver allografts for transplant usually come from donors who have died from fatal brain injury . Living donor liver transplantation is a technique in which a portion of a living person's liver is removed (hepatectomy) and used to replace the entire liver of the recipient . This was first performed in 1989 for pediatric liver transplantation . Only 20 percent of an adult's liver (Couinaud segments 2 and 3) is needed to serve as a liver allograft for an infant or small child . </P> <P> More recently, adult - to - adult liver transplantation has been done using the donor's right hepatic lobe, which amounts to 60 percent of the liver . Due to the ability of the liver to regenerate, both the donor and recipient end up with normal liver function if all goes well . This procedure is more controversial, as it entails performing a much larger operation on the donor, and indeed there have been at least two donor deaths out of the first several hundred cases . A recent publication has addressed the problem of donor mortality, and at least 14 cases have been found . The risk of postoperative complications (and death) is far greater in right - sided operations than that in left - sided operations . </P>

Liver is the largest gland in the body