Levertransplantatie met een levende donor

- Recently the first three liver transplantations from living donors were performed in the Netherlands. The motivations to proceed with this new procedure were threefold; the existing shortage of post-mortem organ donors, the successful transplants reported in the literature and the supposedly better organ quality and favourablelogistics of the procedure. This new procedure is in line with a recent advisory report on organ donation from the National Health Council of the Netherlands. As long as there is a shortage of post-mortem donors, living donation is a necessary treatment for patients with otherwise fatal liver insufficiency. However this should not keep public and governmental organisations from its continuing efforts to promote post-mortem donation. These should also include a discussion regarding changes to the organ donation law.