How successful is a liver transplant?

With advancements in medical technologies, immunosuppressive therapies, and a better understanding of the procedure, liver transplant has become a highly successful surgery. It is a beacon of hope for lakhs of patients suffering from end-stage liver disease.

What is a liver transplant?

A liver transplant is a life-saving surgical procedure to replace a damaged liver with a healthy liver. You can either receive a whole liver from a suitable deceased donor or a portion of the liver from a compatible living donor. A divided liver grows back to normal size in both the recipient and the living donor's body within 2-3 months of surgery. Thus, both can live a normal life after the transplant.

Why go for a liver transplant?

• Improved quality of life: A liver transplant can significantly improve your quality of life, allowing you to live a normal life again.
• Increased survival: Liver transplant adds a few more years to patients’ lives, allowing them to enjoy life with their loved ones.
• Resolution of symptoms: Transplantation resolves symptoms associated with the deceased liver, such as jaundice, GI bleeding, ascites and fatigue.

Factors that influence success rate:

• Preoperative health: Patients with fewer comorbidities and better health usually report better outcomes.
• Donor compatibility: Donor-recipient compatibility, in terms of tissue and blood type match, plays a critical role in the success of a transplant. Close matches often have good outcomes and lower organ rejection rates.
• Doctor’s expertise: This is the most crucial part of a liver transplant. If you are considering a liver transplant, always choose a doctor with years of expertise and who has performed thousands of transplants. An experienced doctor can make your journey smooth and improve your transplant success rate.
• Post-operative care: Adequate care is important post-transplant to ensure faster healing and lower the risk of organ rejection. Those who follow their doctor's prescription and advice generally have a good satisfaction rate.

Success rate:

The success rate of live transplants varies with age and the overall health of the patient. Paediatric and young patients, especially females, have a higher success rate compared to elderly (above 65 years) patients. In general, the average survival rate after liver transplant is 90-95% after one year, 80% after five years, 63% after 10 years and 53% after 20 years.

Why has the success rate improved nowadays?

• Advances in surgical techniques: The advent of better surgical techniques has reduced complications and improved graft survival.
• Immunosuppressive therapy: The advancement in immunosuppressive medications and better understanding have minimised rejection rates and improved long-term outcomes.
• Better understanding of procedure: With increased research on liver diseases, the knowledge around transplantation has improved. At Aakash Healthcare, we have India’s one of best liver transplant teams, which has performed over 2000 liver transplants and has over two decades of experience in this field.
• Donor selection: Nowadays, the selection criteria for donor and matching algorithms have improved for optimised graft quality and management.
• Post-transplant care: Improvements in post-transplant care protocols and monitoring have reduced complications and improved patient outcomes.

Takeaway!

Liver transplantation is a life-changing and highly successful procedure these days, offering renewed hope for patients with end-stage liver disease. If you or your loved one is considering liver transplantation, consult our liver transplant experts at our Centre for Liver-GI Diseases & Transplantation, Aakash Healthcare, Dwarka.