Patients Questions for Liver transplantation


What is a liver transplant?

A liver transplant is the replacement of your liver with one that has been donated by someone else. The donated liver comes from someone who has died. In the future, it may be more common for donated liver tissue to come from a living person, such as a family member. In this case, you receive only a part of the donor's liver.

When is a liver transplant considered?

Liver transplants are considered only when there is a high risk of death from liver disease. Usually, more than one doctor will help decide if you need a liver transplant
Being told you might need a liver transplant doesn't automatically mean that you are in danger of dying right away. It usually takes a long time to find a liver that is right for you. For this reason, your doctor might try to decide whether you need a liver transplant months or years before you actually must have one.

What might make your doctor think you need a liver transplant?

Your doctor might think about giving you a liver transplant if you have any of the following symptoms, and they don't go away with time
Yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)
Fluid in your legs (edema) or in your stomach (ascites)
Thinning of your muscles, especially in your face, neck and arms
Easy bruising or bleeding
Vomiting blood (hematemesis), or passing blood in your stool (melena)
Times when you can't concentrate or become easily confused
Changes in your liver tests that suggest your liver is failing

Can anyone get a liver transplant?

No. Getting a liver transplant is very stressful. Not everyone who needs a liver transplant can survive the major surgery involved. In other cases, your doctor might decide that the liver transplant probably won't work
If your doctor thinks you might need a liver transplant, then you should do everything you can to keep healthy and strong. Some of the things that might prevent you from getting a liver transplant include:
Continuing to use alcohol or illegal drugs
Being at high risk of using drugs or alcohol again after the surgery
Being unable to follow your doctor's instructions, like taking your medicine when you are supposed to
Having too little support from people at home to care for you after the operation
Having advanced cancer of the liver
Having another kind of cancer in the past 3 to 5 years
Having severe heart, lung or kidney disease
Having advanced HIV disease (AIDS)
Severe hardening of the arteries



What can you do to keep healthy before and after a liver transplant?

If you follow the suggestions below, you can improve your chances of getting a liver transplant and feeling healthy after it is done. Some of these suggestions might also keep you from needing a transplant for a longer time.
Do not use alcohol or illegal drugs. Get treatment for your substance abuse problem if you need it
Get treatment for any mental illness or behavioral problems
Make sure you follow your doctor's advice to try to treat your liver disease
Eat well-balanced, healthy meals. Lose weight, if your doctor tells you to
Get treated for any other health problems (diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc
Stop smoking or chewing tobacco
Talk to your doctor before you use any other prescription or over the counter medicine. Talk to your doctor before using any vitamins, supplements or natural or herbal remedies

What is life like after a liver transplant?

Most people who get liver transplants go back to having a full and active life. Most of them live for many years. If you have a liver transplant, some things will be different. You will have to take medicine every day to make sure that your body doesn't reject your new liver. You will have to see your doctor often, and learn to work well with all the people on your healthcare team. You might need to keep getting treated for your liver disease, or for alcohol or drug use. You might have some new problems. Some people who get transplants have trouble with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and occasional infections. Your doctor can help you deal with these problems, if they occur

If you have HCV, will it come back in the new liver?

But new treatments for HCV may become available to prevent HCV from damaging your new liver as much as your old on