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Liver transplantation 

Liver transplantation
Chapter:
Liver transplantation
Author(s):

John G. O’Grady

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780198746690.003.0322
Page of

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date: 05 March 2021

Liver transplantation is an established treatment for liver conditions that broadly fall into the categories of acute liver failure, end-stage chronic liver disease, primary hepatic malignancy, and metabolic disease. The expected 1-year survival rate is over 90% and some patients are alive more than 40 years after transplantation. Disease severity scores for cirrhosis heavily influence selection of patients with cirrhosis for transplantation. The prototype is the MELD (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) score, based on serum bilirubin, serum creatinine, and INR: a score of 16 is considered the threshold that confers benefit from liver transplantation. Hepatocellular carcinoma accounts for most of the malignancy group and selection is largely determined by tumour bulk assessed by the number and size of lesions. Immunosuppression strategies based on tacrolimus, with or without other drugs including mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) inhibitors, antiproliferative agents, or prednisolone, are highly effective in preventing loss of the graft through classical rejection processes. Recurrence of original disease is the main cause of loss of graft function, with recurrence of hepatitis C a particularly challenging problem, although new direct-acting antiviral agents are likely to radically improve outcomes. Technical problems can also result in graft loss due to hepatic artery thrombosis or diffuse ischaemic cholangiopathy, especially in livers harvested from donors after cardiac death. Anastomotic biliary strictures are the commonest technical complication, with 15 to 20% of patients requiring some form of endoscopic or surgical intervention. There is a considerably increased risk of myeloproliferative disease and skin cancers in transplant recipients, as well as aetiology-specific risk. Many patients die having achieved a normal life expectancy, and death with a functioning graft is the commonest terminal scenario.

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