[Is liver transplantation a therapeutic possibility of low priority in Norway?]

The number of orthotopic liver transplantations per year in Norway is smaller than in other countries of Northern Europe. Relatively fewer liver transplantations are performed both in the case of accepted indications such as primary biliary cirrhosis and acute liver failure, and for more arguable indications like post viral cirrhosis and alcoholic liver disease. The authors discuss priorities in health care in Norway. The efficacy of liver transplantation for selected groups of patients is compared with the efficacy of bone marrow transplantation for another selected group of patients. If indications and activity of bone marrow transplantation depict the threshold of prioritization, then more patients with chronic liver disease should be offered liver transplantation as therapy.