Living Related Liver Transplant in India

What is a Living Related Liver Transplant?

A living-related or live-donor liver transplant is a procedure where a section of the liver from a healthy living individual is removed and placed into the patient whose liver is not working efficiently anymore. The remaining liver portion of the donor regrows and returns to its standard size, capacity, and volume within a few months after the liver transplant surgery. Simultaneously, this transplanted liver part regrows with restored function in the patient (recipient). Max Hospital is one of India's leading hospitals performing Living Related Liver Transplant with a high success rate.

Who Can Be a Living Liver Donor?

During liver donation, patients can receive from a living donor; they can be a family member, a relative, or a close friend and can be considered for donation. Candidates must:

• Be in good physical and mental health.
• Have a blood type compatible with the recipient donor.
• Be between 18-60 years of age.
• Not have other significant organ diseases such as heart or kidney disease, cancer, hepatitis, or active and chronic infections.
• Not have an active substance abuse disorder.

Living donors also need a healthy emotional and physical support system during recovery.

Which Diseases Necessitate Living-Related Liver Transplant Surgery?

Although a living-related liver transplant treats acute failure of the liver, it is more common for treating chronic liver failure. Chronic liver failure occurs due to a variety of severe conditions. The most common cause of such chronic liver failure is liver cirrhosis. In liver cirrhosis, scar tissue of the liver often replaces healthy liver tissue, causing the malfunctioning of the liver. Some of the leading causes of requiring a liver transplant include:

• Excessive consumption of alcohol can cause alcoholic liver disease
• Hepatitis B and C
• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, where fat develops within the liver and causes inflammation or even cell damage.
• Genetic conditions that affect the liver, including hemochromatosis, which causes an increased iron buildup within the liver.

What Are the Medical or Diagnostic Tests Required for Living Related Liver Transplants?

Some standard tests that are often recommended by doctors when recommending living-related liver transplant surgery in India are:

• Laboratory tests (blood tests, urine tests) for assessing organ health, including that of liver
• Imaging tests (ultrasound of liver)
• Heart tests for determining the health of the cardiovascular system
• A general physical health examination that includes routine screening tests for cancer, evaluating regular health and timely checking for any other illnesses that can affect even a successful transplant

What Are the Pre-Surgery and Post-Surgery Precautions?

Before a living-related liver transplant takes place, a few pre-surgery precautions and post-surgery recovery instructions must be followed. Patients need to be careful about food habits, the intake of regular medications, and their regular physical checkups. They need to follow all instructions as demonstrated by doctors strictly and take medications as prescribed before the surgery. After the surgery is performed, some of the health measures that patients need to be extra careful about include:

• Patients may need to stay in the ICU for a couple of days
• Depending on their health conditions, they may need to be hospitalised for around a few days after the surgery.
• When discharged for home, patients must continue their checkup plans during recovery.
• Patients are advised to take proper medications post-liver-transplant surgery.
They need to receive an appropriate diet and regular exercise as suggested by doctors.

What Is the Cost of Living Related Liver Transplants in India?

Over the previous five decades, liver transplants have been one of the most successful developments in the healthcare industry. Due to the increasing number of surgical procedures and technological advancements over the last few decades, this medical therapy is now in its golden age in India. This procedure requires the expertise of our surgeons as well as our state-of-the-art techniques and may affect the cost of Living Related Liver Transplant in India.