Alcohol, liver disease, and transplantation: shifting attitudes and new understanding leads to changes in practice.

Alcohol, liver disease, and transplantation: shifting attitudes and new understanding leads to changes in practice. Curr Opin Organ Transplant. 2018 Feb 01;: Authors: Mathurin P, Lucey MR Abstract PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Review the current status of liver transplantation for patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). RECENT FINDINGS: Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) will increase as a source of patients requiring liver transplantation. Attitudes to use of liver transplantation as rescue therapy for patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis are changing. The long-term health of ALD liver transplantation recipients requires continued assistance to patients with AUD. SUMMARY: Liver transplantation of patients with ALD increased during the last decade and we predict that this trend will continue because of the decline in hepatitis C virus-infected candidates. Concomitantly, a shift in the selection for liver transplantation has occurred of patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis not responding to medical therapy. Although rescue liver transplantation is a valuable option for patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis, worldwide practice regarding rescue liver transplantation remains very heterogeneous. There is increasing recognition that excessive consumption of alcohol after liver transplantation is harmful to graft function and patient survival. Factors associated with relapse are younger age at liver transplantation and sh...
Source: Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Organ Transplant Source Type: research