Zydus Liver Transplant

Liver Transplant

Medical Specialities
Liver Care
Liver Transplant

Liver Transplant
When the liver doesn’t function adequately or liver disease has progressed to higher stages and is damaged beyond repair, a liver transplant is recommended.
It is a surgical procedure performed to remove a part of the diseased or injured liver and replace it with a whole or a portion of a healthy liver from another person (dead or alive), called the donor. Since the liver has regenerative properties, a transplanted segment can grow to normal size within a matter of a few weeks. Liver transplants are usually reserved as the last treatment option for patients with end-stage liver disease or liver failure.
The new Liver can be from two sources:
Living Donors: from one’s own family, or someone who is blood group compatible. It is called Living Donor Liver Transplant (LDLT).
Deceased Donors: from a brain-dead person whose family has agreed for donation. It is called Deceased Donor Liver Transplant (DDLT).

The transplanted Liver then continues to function in the new body – the host body – under cover of immuno-suppressants
A related living donor with a matching blood group can donate up to 70% portion of their liver
This process ensures that those in need of a liver transplant have options based on their condition and available donors
Recently the experts at Zydus hospital have also performed ABO incompatible Liver Transplant.
The causes for Liver Transplant are
- Alcohol-related Liver diseases
- Chronic Hepatitis, including hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.
- Autoimmune Hepatitis Disease caused by abnormality of the immune system
- Vessel Diseases - Budd Chiari Syndrome
- NASH, or Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis, a disease caused by buildup of fat in the liver
- Some genetic conditions, including Wilson disease (dangerously high levels of copper build-up in the liver) and Hemochromatosis (excess iron in the liver)
- Bile duct Diseases - Primary biliary cholangitis, Primary sclerosing cholangitis, and biliary atresia
- Primary liver cancer that originate in the liver, such as hepatocellular carcinoma,is amenable to liver transplant. Unfortunately, in most cases, individuals are diagnosed late, making transplant impossible.
Deceased Donor Liver Transplantation
Deceased Donors are brain-dead, and whose families have agreed to donate, and the procedure is called a Deceased Donor Liver Transplant (DDLT).
- Organs come from brain-dead donors
- Allocation is done based on blood group and MELD score
- MELD score (6-40) indicates the patient's condition
- A higher MELD score gets priority for a matching liver
Living Donor Liver Transplantation
Living Donors are usually from a patient’s own family or someone who is blood group compatible, and the procedure is called a Living Donor Liver Transplant (LDLT).
A donor is:
- One who is from the patient’s family (1st or 2nd-degree relative)
- A healthy individual or with controlled co-morbidities
- One with the same or compatible blood group as that of the recipient
- One with a sound state of mind, and falls in the age range of 18-55 years
- Voluntary donor, and is not coerced into donation with financial incentives
The donor is selected and evaluated on the basis of the following:
Evaluation of Recipient
- Finding out the etiology of acute liver failure / chronic liver disease
- Haematological and Biochemical evaluation: Complete blood count, Liver and renal function tests
- Lipid profile, Iron studies, Cytomegalovirus IgG/IgM
- Thyroid profile
- 24-hour urine analysis
- Tumour markers
- Cultures (blood and urine c/s)
- Imaging studies
  - Ultrasound of the abdomen with Doppler studies
  - Triphasic CT scan of the abdomen
  - Bone scan and high-resolution CT scan of the chest
  - MRI with Venography