Liver Transplantation
Liver transplantation is surgery to remove a diseased
liver and replace it with a healthy liver from an organ donor. A liver
transplant is necessary when disease makes the liver stop working. The most
common reason for liver transplantation in adults is cirrhosis, a disease in
which healthy liver cells are killed and replaced with scar tissue. The most
common reason for transplantation in children is biliary atresia, a disease in
which the ducts that carry bile out of the liver are missing or damaged.
Liver transplantation is usually done when other
medical treatment cannot keep a damaged liver functioning. About 80 to 90
percent of people survive liver transplantation. Survival rates have improved
over the past several years because of drugs like cyclosporine and tacrolimus
that suppress the immune system and keep it from attacking and damaging the new
liver.
==--==
