Single Donated liver Split To Save Two Lives In Rare pediatric transplant At children‘s Health
USA: A groundbreaking split-liver transplantation at children’s Health in Dallas gave new life to a child with end-stage liver disease after a single donated adult liver was procured and surgically divided to serve two recipients. The child, known as Luna, had been diagnosed with biliary atresia and progressed to cirrhosis, prompting placement on the national transplant waiting list where a suitably small organ proved elusive for more than a year.
On November 18, transplant teams received a matching offer coordinated through UNOS and moved quickly to operation. pediatric transplant surgeon Dr. Young Kwan led an extremely rare procedure in which one adult liver was carefully portioned: a small segment was transplanted into Luna and the remaining portion transplanted into another recipient, an adult woman. The technically demanding operation required precision and endurance across roughly a six-and-a-half-hour surgical window and reflects the specialized capabilities of one of only a handful of pediatric centers in the country performing such splits.
Postoperative recovery brought dramatic improvement for Luna almost immediately, and clinicians managed two early rejection episodes successfully with standard therapies. Her prognosis is now described as excellent, and her family — identified as parents Ashton and Samuel — expressed deep gratitude to the donor family whose decision to consent to organ procurement made both transplants possible. The hospital’s organ transplant wall now includes Luna’s name among hundreds honored there, a public testament to how a single act can multiply life-saving impact.
This case highlights both the surgical innovation of split-liver transplantation and the ongoing importance of organ donation networks and timely procurement to expand access for children who need size-appropriate grafts. The procedure illustrates a model for stretching scarce resources to save more than one life from a single donor gift.
Video originally published on 2026-01-05 17:36:18
