[Liver transplantation: how to manage organ shortage?]

Organ shortage remains a major problem in liver transplantation for which the number of patients on the waiting list is superior to the number of liver grafts harvested each year. In 2007, 1061 liver transplantations have covered 78.7% of the needs for 1348 new candidates. Improvement of the results (5 year-survival 74.9% and 63% at 10 years) do not influence the number of major indications (hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitis C virus, alcohol), despite a slight decrease in the rate of activity of 1 to 2% per year. Introduction of the national score for each patient to be registered on the waiting list, the use of split grafts or grafts from marginal criteria donors may enlarge the donor pool. Liver grafts from cardiac deceased donors or from living donors are less frequent and are controversial from a technical and psychological point of view. The most efficient solution in order to overcome organ shortage is the increase in the pool of brain dead donors by accompanying people acceptance of organ donation and the use of parts of human body after death. Such education of the population could be made by the valorisation of organ donation, through public campaigns suggesting reflexion rather than coercition.