LDLT has become an important and effective life-saving procedure, in particular for those with acute liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. The current waiting period for a cadaveric donor liver is much too long to benefit patients with these rapidly progressive diseases. Without LDLT, it is highly unlikely that patients will be transplanted before they develop fatal complications. Besides being an alternative source of donor livers, the other advantages of LDLT over cadaveric organ donation are:

• It allows scheduling of the procedure. As such, the patient with decompensated liver function can be optimised prior to the operation.
• Quality of the graft is better as it is retrieved from a healthy donor and the cold ischaemic time is much shorter.