Liver transplant:

Liver transplant: 

A liver transplant is surgery to remove your diseased or injured liver and replace it with a healthy liver from another person, called a donor. If your liver stops working properly, called liver failure, a liver transplant can save your life.

Why A Liver Transplant Is Required?

Liver transplant is a treatment option for some people with liver cancer and for people with liver failure whose condition can't be controlled with other treatments.

Liver failure may happen quickly or over a long period of time. Liver failure that occurs quickly, in a matter of weeks, is called acute liver failure. Acute liver failure is an uncommon condition that is usually the result of complications from certain medications.

Although a liver transplant may treat acute liver failure, it is more often used to treat chronic liver failure. Chronic liver failure occurs slowly over months and years.

Chronic liver failure may be caused by a variety of conditions. The most common cause of chronic liver failure is scarring of the liver (cirrhosis). When cirrhosis occurs, scar tissue replaces typical liver tissue and the liver doesn't function properly. Cirrhosis is the most frequent reason for a liver transplant.

Major causes of cirrhosis leading to liver failure and liver transplant include:

• Hepatitis B and C.
• Alcoholic liver disease, which causes damage to the liver due to excessive alcohol consumption.
• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition in which fat builds up in the liver, causing inflammation or liver cell damage.
• Genetic diseases affecting the liver. They include hemochromatosis, which causes excessive iron buildup in the liver, and Wilson's disease, which causes excessive copper buildup in the liver.
• Diseases that affect the tubes that carry bile away from the liver (bile ducts). They include primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and biliary atresia. Biliary atresia is the most common reason for liver transplants among children.

Diagnosis

The transplant evaluation process includes:

• Psychological and social evaluation: Many different issues are assessed. They include stress, financial concerns, and whether you will have support from family or friends after your surgery.
• Blood tests: These tests are done to help find a good donor match and assess your priority on the waiting list. They can also help improve the chances that your body won’t reject the donor's liver.
• Diagnostic tests: Tests may be done to check your liver and your general health. These tests may include X-rays, ultrasounds, a liver biopsy, heart and lung tests, colonoscopy, and dental exams. Women may also have a Pap test, gynecology exam, and a mammogram.

The transplant center team will review all of your information. Each transplant center has rules about who can have a liver transplant.

Note: A rating of 100 percent shall be assigned as of the date of hospital admission for transplant surgery and shall continue. One year following discharge, the appropriate disability rating shall be determined by mandatory VA examination. Any change in evaluation based upon that or any subsequent examination shall be subject to the provisions of §3.105(e) of this chapter.