Hepatitis - Outlook

Liver Transplantation

Liver transplantation may be indicated in the following patients:

• Those who have developed life-threatening cirrhosis and who have a life expectancy of more than 12 years.
• Patients with liver cancer that has not spread beyond the liver may also be candidates.

Current five-year survival rates after liver transplantation are between 55% and 80%, depending on different factors. Patients also report improved quality of life and mental functioning after liver transplantation. Unfortunately, in about half of all chronic hepatitis patients, the disease recurs after transplantation.

Patients should consider medical centers that have performed more than 50 transplants per year and produced better-than-average results. Unfortunately, in 2003 with 18,000 Americans waiting for a liver donor, only 4,244 liver transplantations were performed. And, given the large number of people with hepatitis C, this situation will almost certainly worsen over the following years.

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