[Liver transplantation in Switzerland. Initial results]

In Switzerland four university hospitals have engaged in a liver transplant program. Of the 40 transplanted patients, 21 were alive on May 31, 1989. This survival rate is encouraging as it relates to teams which have only recently started up; it should, however, be improved if it is to equal the results achieved by the best centres in the world. Several issues must be urgently addressed: the shortage of donors, requiring a better harvesting organization at the national level; a possible association with existing European bodies; and critical discussion regarding the number of centers which should perform liver transplants in the country.