Liver transplant

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By Mayo Clinic staff

Expect six months to a year of recovery before you'll feel fully healed after your liver transplant surgery. You may be able to resume normal activities or go back to work a few months after surgery. How long it takes you to recover may depend on how ill you were before your liver transplant.

Survival rates after liver transplant
Your chances of a successful liver transplant and long-term survival depend on your particular situation. In general, about 72 percent of people who undergo liver transplant live for at least five years. That means that for every 100 people who receive a liver transplant for any reason, about 72 will live for five years and 28 will die within five years.

People who receive a liver from a living donor have higher survival rates because having a living donor usually means a shorter wait for a liver. For liver transplants using living donors, the five-year survival rate is about 78 percent. That means that for every 100 people who receive a liver transplant using a living donor, 78 will live for five years and 22 will die within five years.

References
  1. Martin P, et al. Liver transplantation. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisinger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/linkTo?type=bookHome&isbn=978-1-4160-6189-2&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6189-2..X0001-7--TOP&uniq=200844987-3. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010.
  2. Liver transplant. American Liver Foundation. http://www.liverfoundation.org/abouttheliver/info/transplant/. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010.
  3. What I need to know about liver transplantation. National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/livertransplant_ez/. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010.
  4. Questions & answers for transplant candidates about MELD and PELD. United Network for Organ Sharing. http://www.unos.org/docs/MELD_PELD.pdf. Accessed Oct. 15, 2010.
  5. Liver Kaplan-Meier patient survival rates for transplants performed: 1997-2004. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/latestData/rptStrat.asp. Accessed Oct. 15, 2010.
MY00349 Dec. 10, 2010

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