When Robert Olson, 55, underwent surgery at the Georgetown University Hospital in April 2001 to donate part of his liver to his wife Rosanne, neither he nor his doctors foresaw the severe complications that would occur.

The results of that operation have since forced the hospital to modify its policy on organ donation.

The Georgetown University Hospital changed its organ donation policy and will no longer accept liver donors who have tested positive for Factor V Leiden Deficiency, a hereditary blood coagulation disorder that causes the blood to clot more easily than normal, hospital Media Relations Director Marianne Worley said.

According to Robert Olson, his surgeon Lynt Johnson, chief of the division of transplant surgery, put this policy into effect immediately following Olson’s surgery.

The Olson family’s experiences at Georgetown began in 1998, when Johnson diagnosed Rosanne Olson with Caroli’s Disease, a rare liver disorder that causes liver stones.

Johnson was the first doctor to correctly diagnose her illness, her husband said.

“[Georgetown] solved all the problems that my wife had been facing for so long,” he said.

After undergoing an intensive liver surgery in Dec. 1998, she was placed on a waiting list for a liver transplant. Since her condition was not life threatening, she remained on the waiting list for over two years, and at this point her husband decided to donate part of his liver to her.

Before his surgery, Olson had been screened and diagnosed with Factor V Leiden Deficiency, Worley said.

An estimated 5 percent of the Caucasian population and 1.2 percent of the African American population in the United States has Factor V Leiden Deficiency, according to the Factor V Leiden/Thrombophilia Support Page Web site.

In the worst cases, this condition can contribute to stroke and lead to blood clotting in the veins and lungs.

Many of those with Factor V Leiden Deficiency remain perfectly healthy, however, and would not know they had it unless a serious medical situation arises.

Olson said that he and Johnson had reviewed and discussed the condition at length and consulted a blood specialist on the potential complications that might arise during and following his surgery.

They then decided to proceed with the surgery.

Worley said that at the time of Olson’s surgery, Johnson and other experts foresaw the potential for some complications due to Factor V Leiden Deficiency, although they did not expect such severe problems.

“No one could have foreseen the events that unfolded,” Olson said.

Three days following his surgery, Olson developed a clot in his hepatic vein that impeded his liver’s ability to heal itself after the surgery.

He said that although the surgical team was able to dissolve the clot, he soon experienced liver failure and needed a liver transplant himself.

“That was not what [Olson’s surgeons] expected,” Worley said.

Olson said that Johnson obtained a liver for him from South Carolina, and he soon received the transplant he needed.

Today, he and his wife are healthy and fully recovered and live in Rockville, Md.

“None of us thought this would happen but [Georgetown] did all the right things at the right time to protect me and now I’ve made it through,” Olson said.

Olson described his experience at Georgetown as “amazing,” and said that he felt Johnson, after witnessing the complications that Factor V Leiden Disorder had caused in his case, made the right decision in barring potential liver donors with the blood disorder.

Olson added that he hopes others hospitals and organ transplant centers will do the same.

“I’ve always thought there was a silver lining in what happened to me in that others would be tested so it could be prevented from happening again,” he said.

Patients are not universally screened for Factor V Leiden Deficiency before organ donation.

“Olson brings up a good point that donors need to be fully informed before they go into [surgery],” Worley said.

Those with Factor V Leiden are not generally discouraged from donating organs due to this condition, according to the Web site.

Organ donation by living donors such as Olson is also a relatively new area of medicine, where research is ongoing. Many precedents had yet to be established as of Olson’s surgery, Worley said.

“The lessons learned need to be shared,” Olson said, “policies need to evolve based on new information.”