Some liver donations come from a living person. This possibility is surprising: the donor does not have two livers as he has two kidneys. Surgeons remove part of the organ, in a carefully evaluated medical setting.
NIDDK explains that the remaining liver in the donor and the transplanted portion in the recipient may increase in size after the operation. This ability to regenerate allows to restore an adapted volume, without meaning that a small new organ appears magically next to the first.
The property does not erase the risks of surgery or the limits related to the state of the liver. It does not mean that all lesions repair themselves or that everyone can give without evaluation. History simply shows that an adult organ retains a growth capacity remarkable enough to be used in some transplants.
What we know
General information about regeneration after transplantation; not identical regrowth of all lobes or individual medical advice.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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