Quality of life of Egyptian donors after living-related liver transplantation

El-Serafy, Magdy; Kassem, Abdel-Meguid; Alansary, Adel; Omar, Ashraf; Yosry, Ayman; Esmat, Gamal; Kamel, Refaat; Refaat, Samy; Doss, Wahid; Zayed, Naglaa; El-Mallahy, Tamer; Zakaria, Serag

doi:10.1016/j.ajg.2009.03.004

« Previous Next »Arab Journal of Gastroenterology
Volume 10, Issue 1 , Pages 21-24, March 2009

Quality of life of Egyptian donors after living-related liver transplantation

Magdy El-Serafy
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Abdel-Meguid Kassem
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Adel Alansary
- Intensive Care Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Ashraf Omar
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Ayman Yosry
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Gamal Esmat
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Refaat Kamel
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Samy Refaat
- Department of Hepatology, Ahmad Maher Teaching Hospital, Cairo, Egypt
Wahid Doss
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Naglaa Zayed
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
- Corresponding author. Address: 154 Nile Street Al-Agouza, Giza 12311, Egypt. Tel.: +20 2 37494926, +20 2 23647524 (O), +20 101460366 (Mobile).
Tamer El-Mallahy
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Serag Zakaria
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Background and study aim

Quality of life after liver donation must remain a primary outcome measure when we consider the utility of living donor liver transplants. In making clinical decisions on the use of transplantation for chronic liver diseases, consideration should be given to the key factors likely to affect subsequent health related quality of life. It would be beneficial for donors, if factors predicting good quality of life are identified. The aim of this study was to assess the health related quality of life changes experienced by donors following living related liver transplantation using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire.

Patients and methods

Between August 2001 and December 2006, 125 adults received liver grafts from living donors at Dar Al-Fouad Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. The SF-36v2 questionnaire was applied to 30 donors after at least 6 months following donation and maximally 4 years after donation (mean±STD:3.28±1.56 years). Furthermore, 30 healthy volunteers were taken as a control group.

Results

None of the donors required re-surgery and no deaths were reported. Only 4 (13.3%) donors experienced minor complications, which did not affect their quality of life and had no long term effects. No significant difference was found between donors and control group when means of the Physical and Mental Component Summary were compared. The physical functioning domain was the only domain of health which showed a statistically significant difference between both groups.

Conclusion

Health related quality of life of donors was not compromised after full recovery. All donors had good recovery and returned to regular activities within 2–4 months post donation.

Abbreviations: SF-36, Short Form 36v2 version 2, LDLT, living donor liver transplantation, HRQL, health-related quality of life, MCS, mental component summary, PCS, physical component summary, PF, physical function, RP, role physical, BP, bodily pain, GH, general health, VT, vitality scale, SF, social functioning scale, RE, role emotional scale, MH, mental health scale, STD, standard deviation