Certified Clinical Transplant Nurse (CCTN) Practice Exam

A split liver transplant involves dividing a donor liver into two segments to be transplanted into multiple recipients. This approach maximizes the use of a single donor organ and allows for efficient allocation, particularly in situations where both adult and pediatric recipients can be served. The segments are typically grafted to an adult and a child, taking into account the size and functional requirements of each recipient.

This method addresses the shortage of donor livers by expanding the number of potential recipients that can benefit from available liver donations. In contrast, the other options focus on scenarios that do not align with the primary purpose of a split liver. For example, enhancing the size of the donor liver for a single recipient or improving liver function in a single donor do not reflect the intent behind splitting the organ. Similarly, using only a small portion of the liver would not address the goal of optimizing transplantation potential across multiple patients. Thus, the purpose of a split liver transplant is to ensure that more than one patient can receive life-saving treatment from a single organ donation.