On 13 November 1989, Japan's first liver transplant from a living donor was performed at Shimane Medical University, using a portion of the father's liver. It was the fourth such operation in the world and encouraged the adoption of living-donor liver transplantation and debate over organ donation.
On 13 November 1989, Japan's first living-donor liver transplant was performed. The recipient was a baby with congenital biliary atresia, and a portion of the father's liver was used for the transplant. It was a highly difficult operation at a time when understanding of organ transplantation remained limited in Japan.
Although a heart transplant had been performed in Japan in 1968, transplants from brain-dead donors were difficult, and transplant medicine had entered a prolonged period of stagnation. Living-donor liver transplantation was positioned as a means of opening the way to transplants from brain-dead donors, which were impossible in Japan at the time.
The baby temporarily recovered after the operation but died at the age of 1 year and 9 months in August 1990. The procedure was highly challenging and could not prolong the child's life, but it influenced the subsequent establishment of living-donor liver transplantation.
This event helped establish living-donor liver transplantation as a medical treatment, broadened debate on organ donation and laid the groundwork for transplants from brain-dead donors.