LIVER TRANSPLANTATION IN MAN

Until quite recently it was possible to give only highly tentative opinions on the role of liver transplantation in the treatment of patients dying of incurable liver disease. Now, a much more authoritative position concerning clinical liver transplantation can be taken, since there have been six patients who have lived for more than a year after removal of their own diseased livers and replacement with cadaveric organs.The mortality has been high, just as it was in the first trials with renal transplantation. Nevertheless, we believe that the future role of liver transplantation in hepatic disease will not be fundamentally different than cadaveric kidney transplantation in the field of renal disease. In this paper we will give the justification for this optimistic view, mention the indications for such operations as they have become clear in the last year and, above all, focus attention upon the errors in technique or judgment we have made which have accounted for most of the early deaths in our experience.