Here’s a story about a woman who celebrated 20 years since she received a “new” liver - from an 88-year old donor - thus her liver is 108 years old. She’s in good health now - at her age of 39, she could live several decades longer with this liver.
Does anyone know what’s the longest any transplanted organ has survived (from birth of the original donor to death of the recipient)? Presumably it’s longer than the lifespan of the oldest human who ever lived (around 120 years).
That is so awesome. Gives me hope.
Makes me wonder if any organs can be re-transplanted after an initial transplant. I mean, I know a transplanted organ can sometimes be removed quickly after the original surgery and re-used (I’ve heard about kidneys going into a second recipient when the first recipient shows immediate rejection or other complications), but I don’t know of scenarios like in the OP where the organ is accepted and gets years of use.
I assume data are limited because of the ethical difficulties in studying the practice. (“Okay, Ms Jenkins, you’re the fourth user of this 158-year-old liver. Good luck!”)
If this is possible, a functional organ could persist for many, many decades through multiple people.
So the liver doesn’t wear out as it gets older? A healthy 100 year old liver is just as functional as a healthy 20 year old one? If so, what other major human organs have this quality?
I know one that doesn’t.
The article says “The liver has a natural ability to regenerate, so there’s no clear limit on how far a liver can go.”
I remember hearing that skin and blood were the only other organs that can regenerate, if you count those 2 as organs.
Slight hijack, the ancient Greeks might have somehow known that the liver regenerates. The punishment of Prometheus was to have his liver torn out by an eagle; at night it would grow back and the eagle would return and tear it out again the next day.
I know that for kidneys, they last on average about 10 years if from a cadaver and about 15 years off from a living donor. That’s how long my wife’s transplanted kidneys lasted. Wow, for a liver to last that long is fantastic.
(I’m glad I double checked and corrected my post. Initially that last sentence was typed in as:
Wow, for a lover to last that long is fantastic.)
No. The liver shrinks with age, and at the cellular level does show effects of ageing: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6709368/
Obviously for the woman mentioned in the OP, the requirement first and foremost was for a functioning liver, so she wouldn’t die.
In terms of the op, I think a limiting factor is going to be the fact that transplants are not that old a procedure.
The first organ transplant was in 1954, and it seems that the first few were with young donors.
I’d estimate that the oldest donor will be at max born in 1900, which would make the oldest organ possibly in circulation (so to speak) only 123 years old.
A liver does regenerate following tissue loss/damage, but functionality can be compromised - as in hepatic cirrhosis.
An 88-year-old liver is bound to have serious mileage even if it still gets you around. Maybe this one was only used on Sundays.
One presumes the donated liver was well taken care of. Probably not smothered in bacon and onions, nor too much Thunderbird or Chianti.
You forgot the fava beans to go with Chianti. Must have the beans and a little Chianti.
One does! Presume, I mean.
It’s called a “liver” for a reason.
The article seems to imply that the donor is dead, but that’s not necessarily the case with a liver donor. Sometimes they take about a third of the donor’s liver, and both parts of the liver regrow in their respective bodies.
Wow. I had no idea that 88 year olds could be donors. I’ve signed the donor card, but find it hard to imagine it being used. I’m 86.
My donor card under “what organs” I wrote:
All of me, ♫ Why not take all of me ♪
Even a sliver of liver delivers.
Could a liver be sliced and used for several recipients?
A good friend of ours had a heart transplant in the early '90s, when she was in her early 30s. If I recall correctly she said that her statistical life expectancy was an additional 12 years. She’s blown the stats to smithereens and is still alive 30 years post-transplant.
Off the above, I guess, if the slices were really thick, like one third each.
I looked around and there are people who have lasted 40 years on their transplanted liver but no information on how old the liver was when they got it. My wag is that most people get a liver younger than they are.