High Success Rate of Liver Transplants a Hopeful Sign
Liver transplants have become highly successful in curing some forms of chronic liver disease, but there are not enough organ donors to meet the need.
Dr. Lewis Teperman, a liver-transplant surgeon at New York University Medical Center, says that liver transplants are successful in 75% to 80% of patients.
A transplant recipient usually returns to a fairly normal, active life within six months after the surgery.
Liver disease is a leading cause of death in the United States. A healthy liver is vital for many functions in the body, including the filtration of blood, the secretion of bile, the synthesis of proteins and the conversion of food to energy.
About 2,000 liver transplants are performed in the United States each year. Teperman says there is a severe lack of organ donors in the United States.
“Thousands more patients could be helped each year with a transplant, but the organs are not available,” he stated.
The donor and recipient’s blood types are matched as closely as possible. However, the patient’s body may initially reject the transplanted organ because it is a foreign substance to which the immune system must adjust.
“We can usually treat a rejection of the organ with strong immunosuppressant drugs, which inhibit the body’s normal responses to foreign material,” Teperman commented.
Immunosuppressants can also weaken the body’s defense against infections, so the patient must not have any infection present when the operation is performed.
Sometimes when a transplanted liver is rejected by the body another transplant is performed to save the patient’s life.
Liver transplantation is used for people of all ages, including children. Although there are few young organ donors, an adult’s liver can be cut down to size.
“The liver has an amazing ability to regenerate itself,” said Teperman. “The transplanted liver grows as the child grows.”
To become an organ donor after death, you should sign a Uniform Organ Donor Card. It is also important to tell your family of your wishes because the permission of the next of kin is necessary to use a donor organ.
