Liver Patients Support Group LSG

of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (U.K.)

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QEHBLSG LIVER UNIT Last Update 7-1-2012

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Liver Transplants

A transplant offers the final hope for people with advanced liver disease.

When the liver fails, even today's advanced medical technology has very little to offer patients.

There is no balance for liver failure and treatment options are all too limited for patients and their liver function declines. So liver transplants truly are a life saver and every year just over 600 patients receive a donated liver.

But for every one person given a second chance at life with a liver transplant, 20 die from liver disease.

Tragically, each year about 100 people die while on the waiting list and many more will be too ill to undergo this major operation.

Transplant teams face the heart rending choice about which patients to put forward onto the transplant list.

Liver disease is the largest cause of death in the UK and the only killer on the rise. The liver, a major and complex organ almost the size of a rugby ball, performed more than 500 functions vital to life, yet surprisingly few of us give it much thought.

This is probably because early liver disease has few if any symptoms. Liver cells can regenerate and people can survive on only a small portion of functioning liver tissue.

However, scar tissue found in cirrhosis cannot repair itself.

Sadly, by the time many patients are diagnosed, it is too late to repair the damaged organ. This is why a new organ is such an important treatment option to help patients with severely damaged livers. A popular misconception is that anyone needing a liver transplant must have had an alcohol problem. This is not the case.

There are many reasons why a liver can fail, including autoimmune conditions where the body attacks itself, integrated genetic diseases such as haemochromatosis (and iron overload disorder) and Wilson's disease and a whole range of rare diseases, injuries from poisons or medications. The hepatitis be and c viruses on the rise in the UK, can be silent for many years but can eventually lead to liver damage.

Alcohol is the largest single cause of liver failure, usually due to regularly thinking to access over many years. Over a quarter of the population drink above government guidelines and it is difficult to predict which of these people will go on to develop liver disease. Too often a diagnosis comes too late for a patient to simply stop or cut back on their drinking to help their liver recover. Only a small minority of them offered a transplant, on evidence they can stay alcohol- free

28 July 2011

More than 4,000 people in England may need a liver transplant by 2020 because of hepatitis C, experts have warned.

Data from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) suggests around 4,200 people could need a transplant owing to serious damage to their liver, with many unaware they have the condition at present.

Experts estimate around 216,000 people in the UK are living with chronic hepatitis C, many of whom are currently undiagnosed. People can catch the disease through contact with the blood - and less commonly the bodily fluids - of an infected person.

Those who share needles and use unsterile drugs equipment are particularly at risk, although people who had a blood transfusion before 1991 or received blood products before 1986 have a higher chance, as well as those having treatments abroad. Sharing toothbrushes, razors and scissors also heightens the risk, as does having tattoos.

Dr Helen Harris, hepatitis expert at the HPA, said: "Many people are unaware that they are infected with the virus because they have no symptoms at all. If people think they have been exposed to the virus, it is vital that they contact their GP for a test. The earlier they are diagnosed the better, as they will have a greater chance of successfully treating their infection."

The report said 15,000 people in England could be living with cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer caused by hepatitis C in 2020 unless they are diagnosed and treated.

Drug treatments can successfully clear the virus in more than half of those infected. In 2010, 7,834 new diagnoses of hepatitis C were reported to the HPA in England.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "More people are being tested for hepatitis C, leading to more people getting the right treatment. Treatment successfully clears the virus in more than half of all cases, and there are newer, more effective treatments being developed.

"But there are many people who don't know they have hepatitis C as it doesn't usually cause symptoms for many years - it could be someone who injected drugs once 30 years ago, or someone who got a piercing with an unsterilised needle.

"World Hepatitis Day is a timely reminder that if in doubt, get checked out. Anyone who wants more information about hepatitis C should talk to their GP or visit NHS Choices."