Liver Transplant
A liver transplant is a surgery that removes a liver that no longer functions properly (liver failure) and replaces it with a healthy liver from a deceased donor or a portion of a healthy liver from a living donor.
Your liver is your largest internal organ and performs several critical functions, including:
- Processing nutrients, medications, and hormones
- Producing bile, which helps the body absorb fats, cholesterol, and fat-soluble vitamins
- Making proteins that help the blood clot
- Removing bacteria and toxins from the blood
- Preventing infection and regulating immune responses
Liver transplant is usually reserved as a treatment option for people who have significant complications due to end-stage chronic liver disease. Liver transplant may also be a treatment option in rare cases of sudden failure of a previously healthy liver.
The number of people waiting for a liver transplant greatly exceeds the number of available deceased-donor livers.
Receiving a portion of a liver from a living donor is an alternative to waiting for a deceased-donor liver to become available. Living-donor liver transplant is possible because the human liver regenerates and returns to its normal size shortly after surgical removal of part of the organ.
The Benign vision of Liver
Liver Hemangioma
A liver hemangioma is a noncancerous (benign) mass in the liver made up of a tangle of blood vessels. Also known as hepatic hemangiomas or cavernous hemangiomas, these liver masses are common and are estimated to occur in up to 20% of the population.
Most cases of liver hemangiomas are discovered during an imaging study done for some other condition. People who have liver hemangioma rarely experience signs and symptoms and typically don’t need treatment.
It may be unsettling to know you have a mass in your liver, even if it’s a benign mass. However, there’s no evidence that an untreated liver hemangioma can lead to liver cancer.
Hydatid Cyst
Hydatid cyst of the liver is a parasitic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus. The principal complications are infection, biliary duct fistula, and rupture into the peritoneum or chest. Diagnosis has become easier with advances in ultrasonic imaging and CT scanning.
Surgery remains the most effective treatment but postoperative complications arise in 30% of cases, particularly when the surgical approach is conservative. Radical surgical approaches give better results and should be used in most cases. Biliocutaneous fistula and infection of the residual cavity are the most common postoperative complications and result in prolonged hospitalization and excess costs.
New therapeutic strategies incorporate endoscopic, percutaneous, and medical therapies with surgery and have allowed an improvement in morbidity and mortality due to hydatid cysts of the liver. Until immunization becomes a possibility, preventive measures are necessary to avoid disease recurrence.
Liver Resection for Malagnancy
If cancer has been found in your liver, your doctor may suggest removing the part of the organ where the disease is growing. This procedure, called a liver resection or partial hepatectomy, often extends life for patients with liver cancer.
Unlike most of your other organs, the liver can regenerate after surgery, even if up to 70 percent is removed. However, the remaining portion must be healthy. Regrowth can take a few weeks to complete.
Many people with liver cancer have cirrhosis. This scarring of the liver is often caused by too much alcohol consumption or a long-term infection with hepatitis B or C viruses. Too much accumulated fat in the liver also may cause cirrhosis. Cancer patients with cirrhosis may undergo a liver resection if their livers aren’t too damaged and the cancer hasn’t spread.
Surgery for Liver Trauma
Liver is one of the organs with the highest injury rate, and in recent decades, the guidelines for the treatment of liver trauma have changed considerably. Now, there is a growing consensus that the most important step is diagnosis and depending upon the degree of severity, non-operative therapy is the main treatment method for hepatic trauma if conditions permit.
For serious hepatic trauma patients such as those with hemodynamic instability, they should be operated upon as soon as possible. Regardless of the surgical options, doctors should control damage to patients and try to prevent complications. New therapies such as hepatic artery embolization and liver transplantation have been more and more used for the treatment of serious hepatic damage in clinics.
