On an ultrasound image, steatotic livers appear brighter, whereas the normal appearance is darker. At the same time, cirrhotic livers can be seen as skinny and lumpy on the ultrasound image.
Rejection occurs when your immune system attacks the new liver. It happens in 25 to 50% of transplant patients within six months of surgery. After six months, the rejection rate is 5% or less.
A deceased donor liver transplant is the most common type of liver transplant procedure. The benefits of this procedure include better quality of life with a healthy liver, it is a choice of treatment when living donors are not available, and transplantation of the whole liver can be done.
Living donor transplants have excellent results as compared with deceased donor transplants. However, finding a living donor may be difficult. The donors go through an extensive evaluation to ensure they are a match with the organ recipient and to assess their physical and mental health.
A deceased donor liver transplantation involves surgically replacing an unhealthy or diseased liver (that no longer functions normally) with a healthy liver from the deceased donor.
Generally, most patients are hospitalised for 7 to 10 days after the liver transplant depending on the patient's age, health condition and recovery rate.
The waiting period for liver transplantation can range from 30 days to more than five years. The wait time depends on several factors such as availability, donor match, overall health, and the severity of your condition. As you wait for a liver transplant, you will regularly meet with your transplant team to evaluate the progression of liver disease and provide resources to help you stay healthy.
The risks associated with a deceased donor liver transplantation are high fever, chills, or flu-like symptoms, rejection of the newly transplanted liver, infection in the transplanted liver, vomiting, diarrhoea, pale stool and dark-coloured urine, and yellow skin or eyes (jaundice-like symptoms).
Full recovery of a deceased liver donor transplant takes an average of 3 to 6 months depending on the age and the health condition. If a donor has undergone laparoscopic surgery, then the recovery time will be shorter, and the wounds will heal faster.
The cost of the living donor liver transplantation procedure ranges from ₹15,00,000 to ₹30,00,000.
The success rate of living donor liver transplants is around 90% which is slightly higher than the deceased donor transplants (85%). Success means the recipient's body accepts the liver, the liver is functional, or both the liver pieces regenerate to full size.