A liver transplant is mainly considered when the liver no longer functions in the human body and they face a failure. This can happen either because of an infection or complications or due to side effects of certain medications and their disorders.
There are places for the best liver transplantation in India and any potential transplant patient must get evaluated before they are enlisted for this surgery. A liver can be obtained from a cadaver or a donor.
We all know that the liver is the largest internal organ and it is located below the diaphragm on the right side of the abdomen. This organ performs a lot of complex functions in the body and they are:
- Producing most proteins needed by the body.
- Metabolising or breaking down the nutrients from food to produce energy, when needed.
- Preventing shortages of nutrients by storing certain vitamins, minerals, and sugar.
- Producing bile is a compound needed to digest fat and to absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K.
- Producing most of the substances that regulate blood clotting.
- Helping the body to fight infection by removing bacteria from the blood.
When liver failure happens, there are 2 possible causes for it. There can be an acute failure from infection or from some complications because of the medicine. Long-term liver failure can happen because of the following conditions:
- Chronic and long-term Hepatitis
- Primary biliary cirrhosis (which is a very rare condition in which the immune system inappropriately attacks and destroys the bile ducts).
- Sclerosing cholangitis is where the bile ducts get narrowed inside and outside of the liver. This can cause the backup of bile in the liver and lead to liver failure.
- Biliary atresia or the malformation of the bile ducts. This is a common reason for liver transplants in the case of children.
- Severe alcoholism.
- Wilson’s disease (a rare one which is an inherited disease where the copper is deposited abnormally throughout the body) and liver is not an exception.
- Hemochromatosis (iron overload disease, a common inherited disease in which the body is overwhelmed with iron)
- Liver cancer
The candidates who are suitable for a liver transplant are evaluated by the specialists from different fields and then determine whether the transplantation is necessary or not. Here the evaluation includes a review of the patient’s medical and surgical history along with a lot of tests.
The best liver transplant in India offers an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate and select candidates in case of liver transplantation. This interdisciplinary healthcare team may include the following:
- A Liver specialist or a hepatologist
- Transplant surgeons
- Transplant coordinator
- Psychiatrist, to deal with the patients and their issues like anxiety and depression.
- Anaesthesiologist, to discuss potential anaesthesia risks.
- Chemical dependency specialist, to aid those patients who have history of alcohol or drug abuse.
Once all these things fall into place, then only the surgeon can look for a donor who can help with the transplantation.