title: Liver transplantation for the referring physician.
abstract: Liver transplantation has become the treatment of choice for nearly all causes of end-stage liver disease, fulminant liver failure, and selected primary hepatic malignancies. The demand for liver transplantation has persistently outmatched the availability of donor organs leading to the development of novel strategies to expand the donor pool. The authors review the process of liver transplant evaluation, methods used to address the donor shortage, and disease-specific outcomes and challenges and discuss posttransplant care.
authors.affiliation: Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, 622 West 168th Street, PH14, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Ming-Ming
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, 622 West 168th Street, PH14, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: rb464@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D000075202:Contraindications; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D018579:Patient Selection; D011182:Postoperative Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000379:methods*; D014850:Waiting Lists
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents
keywords: Child-Turcotte-Pugh; Donation after cardiac death; Extended criteria donor; Fulminant hepatic failure; Hepatic artery thrombosis; Hepatocellular carcinoma