Department of Surgery
Division of Solid Organ Transplantation
Procedures
Liver Transplant Surgery
Is a Liver Transplant Right For You?
Guide to Liver Transplant • Is a Transplant Right For You?
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A liver transplant is offered only to people who have irreversible, chronic liver failure. Usually, other medical or surgical treatments have been tried before a transplant is considered.
Age is not necessarily a factor in deciding if you're a candidate for liver transplant. Newborns, infants, children, and adults past the age of 70 have all had successful liver transplants.
What is important is your general health and suitability for major surgery. For example, you can't have a transplant if you have:
- Cancer in another part of your body
- Serious heart, lung, kidney, or nerve disease that would make the operation too risky
- Active alcoholism or illegal drug abuse
- An active, severe infection that can't be completely treated or cured, such as tuberculosis
- An inability to follow your doctor's instructions
Of course, all major surgery carries risks, and a transplant is no exception. The risks associated with surgery in general are:
- Reactions to anesthesia
- Problems breathing
- Bleeding
- Infection
Transplants carry additional problems, such as:
- Rejection (the body considers the transplanted organ to be a foreign substance and uses its natural immune system to destroy it)
- Life-long need to take medicines (immunosuppressive drugs) that prevent rejection by suppressing the immune system and weakening the body's ability to fight infections
- Finding a healthy organ
- Cost
Despite these risks, a transplant may be the best treatment
option for your condition. Liver transplants do save lives. About
75%
of people survive at least 3 years or more after the transplant.