[The place of living-donor liver transplants in the Netherlands]

There is a shortage of donor livers from deceased persons, which means there is a relatively high mortality rate among patients on the national liver-transplant waiting list in the Netherlands. This justifies expanding the current programme for liver transplants from living donors. The new law on donor organs law came into effect on 1 July 2020. The expectation is that this will lead to a greater supply of post-mortem donor livers. New methods for organ preservation could also lead to an increase in the number of available donor livers. An increase in the supply of donor livers could lead to changes in donor policy. These changes should take into consideration that a liver transplant from a living donor can take place earlier in the course of the disease and that the quality of the donor liver is better, which means that outcomes for the recipient are also better.