Liver transplantation – changes in indications over last decade

Overview

To achieve satisfactory results of liver transplantation, proper selection of transplant candidates is essential. Moreover, indication process is crucial regulator to solve disparity between need for transplantation and capacity of transplant services. Any patient entering the transplant waiting list must have a chance to achieve at least average transplant benefit, currently described as 50% chance to survive 5 years after liver replacement. Until now, liver transplantation is procedure designed to treat life threatening liver disorders with aim to offer long-term survival. Nevertheless, an increase in incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease caused changes in indication spectrum. Improvement in intensive care turned interest to patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure even caused by acute alcoholic hepatitis. Advances in surgery and oncology broadened indications of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma behind standard criteria, and reopened interest in field of cholangiocellular cancer and even liver metastases of colorectal cancer. These criteria are still under development, and full of controversies and broad local variation in clinical practice is present. Entity of futile transplantation is discussed recently with aim to define generally acceptable criteria to deny transplant treatment in too risky patients.

Keywords:

cholangiocellular carcinoma – non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – futile transplantation – hepatocellular carcinoma – liver transplantation