Many diseases can cause liver failure. The most common is liver cirrhosis, which is the scarring and death of liver cells. Cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C is the most common reason for liver transplants. Liver transplantation is needed for patients who are likely to die because of liver failure. Liver transplantation is now generally accepted as the primary treatment for end-stage liver disease.

Contraindications for liver transplantation include: extra-hepatic malignancy, HIV positivity, irreversible pulmonary hypertension, uncorrectable coronary artery disease, hepatoma with portal vein tumor thrombus.

The liver is the only organ that can regenerate itself. This is the reason why in a living donor transplant only a segment of a healthy person’s liver is transplanted into the sick patient. Both the donated segment and the remaining section of the donor liver will grow to normal size within weeks.

The most commonly used technique is orthotopic transplantation, in which the native liver is removed and the donor organ is placed in the same anatomic location as the original liver. In most situations, the transplant takes 5 to 8 hours to complete. Because transplantation is a major surgical procedure, the patient may need a transfusion. Most hospitals offer the option of "autotransfusion" - this is when the patient donates his own blood before surgery. The patient will be under general anesthesia throughout the surgery.

Liver transplantation is unique in that the risk of chronic rejection also decreases over time, although recipients need to take immunosuppressive medication for the rest of their lives.

Also read