Liver Transplantation in India - Liver Helpline India

1. Liver Transplantation InIndia • What Is A LiverTransplant? • The liver is one of the most vital organs of the human body. Proper liver function is required to sustain a healthy life. In liver diseases, the capacity of the liver cell gets reduced. Most of the diseases can be treated by non-invasive treatment methods while some diseases require surgery. Liver transplant is the last option when all the other treatment options do not provide adequate relief from the symptoms of the patient. Liver transplant is a surgical procedure of replacing a damaged lived with a healthy liver. People whose liver fails to perform the physiological functions require a liver transplant. It is also to be noted that the liver has the capacity to regenerate itself shortly after the surgery. This unique characteristic hasmade • the living donor liver transplant as an alternative to deceased donor livertransplantation. • Which Patients Require LiverTransplant? • Liver transplant is the last resort for the people suffering from end-stage irreversible damage to the liver. There are various causes of liver failure. These include Hepatocellular CarcinomaCirrhosis, Cryptogenic Cirrhosis, Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, Wilson’s Disease, Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), Acute Liver Failure, Primary Hemochromatosis, Hepatitis B & C, Budd- Chiari Syndrome, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, Alcoholic Cirrhosis, and Autoimmune Hepatitis. Before transplanting the liver to such patients, comprehensive health evaluation isdone. • What Are The Risks With LiverTransplant? • The risk associated with liver surgery can be divided into two parts. The first part comprises of the risk due to liver transplantation surgery itself while the other part includes the risk and side effects due to potentmedications. • The risk associated with liver transplant surgery: These risksinclude: • Bile ductleakage • Bleeding duringsurgery • Blood clotting • Liverrejection • Donated liverfailure • Infection • Nervous system complications such as seizures • Side effects of medications: Potent anti-rejection medications are administered to the patient to avoid the risk of rejection. These medications have side effects suchas: • Hypertension • Dyslipidaemia • Increase serum glucoselevel • Diarrhea • Thinning ofbones

2. Headache • What Is A Rejection OfLiver? • Various cells in the body protect us from external pathogens and other substances. These cells are known as immune cells and form a systematic and organized immune system. These immune cells spare our body cells as they are able to identify them through a specific mechanism. However, these immune cells also identify any foreign cell and start the immune reaction in order to damage thosecells. • The liver which is transplanted is a foreign organ comprising of foreign cells. Theimmune • system of recipient initiates an immune reaction against the transplanted liver. If the liver gets damaged by the immune system, it is known as a rejection of the liver. In order to avoid this rejection, various anti-rejection medications are administered to the patient. • What Is The Success Rate Of LiverTransplant? • With the advancement of technology and new and potent anti-rejectionmedications, • the success rate of a liver transplant is drastically improved in recent years. The survival rate of liver transplant varies from patient to patient and depends upon the other health conditions along with liver failure. Age also plays a major role in liver transplantsuccess. • In a general sense, the immediate rate of success of liver transplant is between 90-95%. For five-year survival is around 75%. This implies that almost 75% of the patients whohave • undergone liver transplant are able to survive for more than 5years. • It is also to be noted that patients getting the liver from a live donor have more chances of survival as compared to a patient who gets a liver from a deceaseddonor.