Liver transplantation in the developing world

Liver transplantation is an accepted therapy for acute and chronic liver failure. Advances in preoperative and postoperative management and surgical techniques have extended the indications and improved results. Most international centres report one year actual survival rates of between 58-90% and 5-8 years survival of 75-80%. These developments, however, have been limited largely to the West. While the need for liver transplantation is well recognised in the developing world, liver transplantation has only recently been performed successfully in India. This article examines the challenges of liver transplantation in the developing world.