Liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease.
Zetterman RK
Nebraska-Western Iowa VA Health Care System, 4101 Woolworth Avenue, Omaha, NE 68105, USA. rzetterm@unmc.edu
Patients with end-stage alcoholic liver disease should be considered for liver transplantation. A careful pretransplant evaluation must be undertaken to assess for both medical and psychiatric factors that will continue to require attention following transplantation. Although most programs require at least 6 months of ethanol abstinence before consideration of liver transplantation, there is little evidence that this conclusively predicts a reduction in recidivism. Most programs continue to exclude those with alcoholic hepatitis. Postoperatively, attention to psychiatric issues, recidivism, compliance, and assessment for tumors, especially squamous cell carcinomas, should be undertaken.
Published 14 March 2005 in Clin Liver Dis, 9(1): 171-81.
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