THE FACTS
The Latest Information About Living Donor Liver Transplant
2021: Key Numbers
Organ Transplants | 41,354 |
Increase from 2020 | ↑ 5.9% |
Key Milestone | 1st time > 40,000 per year |
2021: Deceased Donor Trends
Total Number of Deceased Donors | 13,861 |
Increase from 2020 | ↑ 10.1% |
Key Milestone | 11 consecutive years with an increase in deceased donation |
2021: US Liver Transplant History
Total Number of Liver Transplants Since 1988 | 190,470 |
Living Donors Since 1988 | 8,319 or 4.4% of total |
Deceased Donors Since 1988 | 182,151 or 95.6% of total |
2021: Number of Liver Transplants | 9,236 (up 3.7% vs. 2020) |
2021 Living Donors | 569 or 6.2% of total |
2021 Deceased Donors | 8,667 or 93.8% of total |
Key Milestone | 2021 was the year with the most living donor liver transplants ever |
Increase in Living Donor Transplants from 2020 | ↑15.8% |
Increase in Deceased Donor Transplants from 2020 | +3.0% (11 consecutive years with an increase in deceased donation) |
2021: Transplants By Organ
Kidney | 24,669 |
Liver | 9,236 |
Heart | 3,817 |
* All organs set annual volume records
* Liver has set an annual volume record for each of the last 9 years
2021: Living Donor Trends Liver & Kidney
Total Number of Living Donors | 6,541* |
Increase from 2020 | ↑ 14.2% |
Living Liver Donors | 569 |
Living Kidney Donors | 5970 |
* Living donor transplant volumes were negatively impacted in both 2020 and 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liver Transplant Around the Globe
USA | Deceased donor is predominant form of transplant |
South & Southeast Asia | Living donor is predominant form of transplant mainly due to cultural beliefs and religious differences related to deceased donor transplant |
Knowledge Sharing | Many surgeons from USA travel to Japan, South Korea and China to learn latest techniques and share best practices |
2021: Living Donor: Liver & Kidney Transplant Comparison
Liver | 569 transplants | 5.6% of overall number of liver transplants |
Kidney | 5,970 transplants | 31.1% of overall number of kidney transplants |
Candidates* on UNOS Transplant Waiting List (As of 2/1/22)
Liver | 11,513 |
Kidney | 90,315 |
Liver Wait List Outcomes | Approximately 15 – 20% of patients awaiting a liver transplant die or become too sick to receive a transplant |
*A patient who is waiting at more than one center, or for multiple organs, would be counted as only one candidate.