Liver transplantion
| Liver transplantation | |
|---|---|
Human liver
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| Specialty | hepatology |
| ICD-9-CM | 50.5 |
| MeSH | D016031 |
| MedlinePlus | 003006 |
Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, although availability of donor organs is a major limitation. The most common technique is orthotopic transplantation, in which the native liver is removed and replaced by the donor organ in the same anatomic position as the original liver. The surgical procedure is complex, requiring careful harvest of the donor organ and meticulous implantation into the recipient. Liver transplantation is highly regulated, and only performed at designated transplant medical centers by highly trained transplant physicians and supporting medical team. The duration of the surgery ranges from 4 to 18 hours depending on outcome. Favorable outcomes require careful screening for eligible recipient, as well as a well-calibrated live or cadaveric donor match.
As with many experimental models used in early surgical research, the first attempts at liver transplantation were performed on dogs. The earliest published reports of canine liver transplantations were performed in 1955 by Vittorio Staudacher at Opedale Maggiore Policlinico in Milan, Italy. This initial attempt varied significantly from contemporary techniques; for example, Staudacher reported "arterialization" of the donor portal vein via the recipient hepatic artery, and use of cholecystostomy for biliary drainage.
The first attempted human liver transplant was performed in 1963 by Dr. Thomas Starzl, although the pediatric patient died intraoperatively due to uncontrolled bleeding. Multiple subsequent attempts by various surgeons remained unsuccessful until 1967, when Starzl transplanted a 19 month old girl with who was able to survive for over 1 year before dying of metastatic disease. Despite the development of viable surgical techniques, liver transplantation remained experimental through the 1970s, with one year patient survival in the vicinity of 25%. The introduction of ciclosporin by Sir Roy Calne, Professor of Surgery Cambridge, markedly improved patient outcomes, and the 1980s saw recognition of liver transplantation as a standard clinical treatment for both adult and pediatric patients with appropriate indications. Liver transplantation is now performed at over one hundred centers in the US, as well as numerous centres in Europe and elsewhere.
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