title: Liver transplant and quality of life in the pediatric population: a review update (2013-2014).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Liver transplantation is emerging as the treatment of choice for children with end-stage liver disease and some cases of acute liver failure. Owing to improvements in the surgical and medical management of liver transplantation, most patients survive surgery and do well physically in the posttransplant period. However, quality of life (QOL) for these children remains below expectation and is associated with poor psychological and social functioning. In this article, we review the recent literature and provide an opinion regarding QOL in pediatric liver transplant (PLT) patients and possible interventions to optimize it.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We reviewed articles published in 2013 and 2014 reporting QOL in PLT survivors. Our review of the literature suggests that children undergoing liver transplantation have varying degrees of QOL in the post transplantation period despite improvements in medical and surgical managements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is important to proactively identify and address psychological difficulties in patients and their families prior to transplant. Following transplantation, a multidisciplinary approach to targeting rehabilitation and decreasing negative effects of the transplant may assist with improving the QOL for patients and their families.
authors: aConsultation Liaison Service, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, USA bDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, USA cDepartment of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge dPerelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA eInstitute of Psychiatry & LIM-23, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil fIdentifying Depression through Early Assessment (IDEA) Research Team, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
authors: Orna
authors: O
authors: Alpert
authors: Varun
authors: V
authors: Sharma
authors: Shireen
authors: S
authors: Cama
authors: Sean
authors: S
authors: Spencer
authors: Hsiang
authors: H
authors: Huang
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology