Department of Surgery

Division of Solid Organ Transplantation

Procedures

Liver Transplant Surgery

Waiting for an Organ

Guide to Liver Transplant

• What Does the Liver Do?

• Liver Diseases

• What is a Liver Transplant?

• Is a Transplant Right For You?

• The Transplant Process

• Lodging & Accommodations
• Resources
• General Information for Transplant Patients

Unfortunately, there are many more people on the waiting list than there are organs available each year. Currently, more than 18,000 people in the United States are waiting for a donor liver. The wait can last several years. That's why becoming an organ donor is so important.

National Waiting List

The national waiting list for donated organs is maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). In 1984 Congress passed the National Organ Transplant Act to address the grave shortage of organs and improve organ matching and placement. The act set up the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to maintain a national registry for organ matching. The network was to be run by a private, non-profit organization under federal contract. UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, is that organization.

The network consists of 58 OPOs (Organ Procurement Organizations) across the country. Each is responsible for a specific region. For the Rochester, Syracuse and Finger Lakes region, the OPO is the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network (FLDRN). Affiliated with the University of Rochester Medical Center, FLDRN coordinates organ donation in 19 counties with a population of 2.4 million, and serves 44 hospitals in the Finger Lakes region, central and northern New York. The phone number is 585-272-4930.

Learn more about UNOS and FLDRN.

Policies on Organ Donation

The UNOS and OPTN community includes medical professionals, patients, donors, their families and friends. Working together, the OPTN sets the policy on organ donation for the country, subject to approval by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These policies are circulated for public comment and can be viewed at the UNOS Web site.

Currently, the policy groups people waiting for an organ by the severity of illness and other medical factors, such as blood type. Within any given group, livers are allocated based on the length of time a person has been on the wait list.

Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD)

A new system, the Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) has recently replaced the previous one. The MELD system is based on three simple to measure laboratory tests, and the MELD score is predictive of death within 3 months (the higher the score, the higher the risk of death). Candidates with sudden, acute liver failure are still allocated organs ahead of all other waiting patients.

While You Wait

While you're on the wait list, you'll have regular follow-up appointments with the transplant team and follow a set of important instructions. For example, you must tell us if:

You're hospitalized
Your liver disease progresses
Your address or telephone number changes
You change or lose insurance coverage
You travel out of town
You need to have regular dental examinations and treat any tooth decay or other oral infections
Any other changes occur that may affect your medical care

You must be ready at all times to come to the hospital when called, and you can be called at any time for a transplant. Carry a pager or cell phone with you at all times. If you don't have one, contact our office and we'll assign you a pager. Also, you should continue to have regular appointments with your gastroenterologist or primary care physicians.