Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

76 The Gastrointestinal System
Donor organs must match BLOOD TYPE and, for
OLT, body size. With HLT body size is less important
because the surgeon can select a liver segment
of the appropriate size. The surgery to
transplant a liver takes between 4 and 12 hours in
most circumstances. Recovery includes up to three
weeks of hospitalization and several months for
full recuperation. Most people are able to return
to regular activities including exercise, work, sexual
activity, and eating habits.
The risks of liver transplantation include bleeding,
INFECTION, and rejection of the donor liver.
Rejection may occur within days of the transplant
or at any time after recovery, though IMMUNOSUP-
PRESSIVE MEDICATIONS reduce the likelihood. Symptoms
of rejection include JAUNDICE, NAUSEA, FEVER,
and PAIN. These symptoms require immediate
medical attention to salvage the transplant.
CONDITIONS FOR WHICH
LIVER TRANSPLANTATION IS AN OPTION
acute (fulminant) LIVER FAILURE AMYLOIDOSIS
autoimmune HEPATITIS
BILIARY ATRESIA
chronic liver failure
CIRRHOSIS
glycogen storage disease
HEMOCHROMATOSIS
hepatitis B/hepatitis C
hepatotoxic liver failure
LIVER DISEASE OF ALCOHOLISM noncancerous LIVER tumors
PRIMARY BILIARY SCLEROSIS
PRIMARY SCLEROSING
WILSON’S DISEASE
CHOLANGITIS
See also ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION; SURGERY BENEFIT
AND RISK ASSESSMENT.