[Indication and results of liver transplantation in adults]

Increase of survival of patients submitted to transplantation is much superior when compared to other treatments in patients suffering terminal chronic hepatic failure. This fact has been allowing earlier indication of hepatic transplantation in lower operative risk patients. Pre-operative cardiocirculatory evaluation is essential, because during surgery hemodynamic and cardiac output alterations shall occur. The actual survival above 75% suggests that it is easier nowadays to look for factors responsible for mortality than to those predictable by survival. Postoperative survival analysis shows better results in cholestatic diseases (primary biliary cirrhosis and sclerosing cholangitis). Regarding hepatocelular carcinoma over cirrhotic liver, the best results are detected in small lesions up to 3 cm.