About Liver and Liver Transplant
- The human body is very fragile.
- Most of the organs in our body are not able to repair themselves.
- Liver is an exception in this case. Liver has the capability to regenerate even if only one fourth of the liver is left.
- This is important because the liver is one of the most important parts of the metabolism process.
- It is responsible for detoxification of drugs in our body, of protein biochemicals that are necessary for digestion and growth. It is responsible for metabolizing drugs and food.
- It is also responsible for the long term storage of carbohydrates and fat in the body.
What is liver transplant?
- A liver transplant is a surgical procedure to remove a diseased liver and replace it with a healthy liver from another person.
- The most common reason for a liver transplant is end-stage liver disease caused by hepatitis C.
- Other reasons for a liver transplant can include end-stage liver disease caused by alcoholic cirrhosis, hepatitis B, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, or autoimmune hepatitis.
- A healthy donor liver can come from a deceased person or from a living person.
- The donor's blood type must be compatible with the recipient's blood type, and the donor's liver must be of similar size to the recipient's current liver.
- The donor organ may also be rejected by the recipient's immune system, so it is important to carefully match donor and recipient.
In which patients is liver transplant required?
- One of the biggest causes of liver disease is alcohol consumption.
- Alcohol consumption can cause major liver diseases like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis C, hepatitis B, cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, hepatitis A and hemochromatosis.
- These diseases are the cause of liver failure.
- Liver failure is a mortal condition that can lead to death.
- Fortunately, liver transplants can be carried out for such patients since liver can be donated by a healthy person easily.
- And the liver can regenerate; it would just regenerate in both the patient and the donor after some time.
What are the different types of liver transplant procedures?
Liver transplant is a unique procedure in that there are three ways to perform it:
- Transplant of organ from deceased donor to the patient
- Transplant of the organ from a liver donor to the patient
- Split transplant of a single organ from a deceased donor to two patients