Hepatitis C: Surgery

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Surgery

If chronic hepatitis C damages your liver so severely that it no longer works well (end-stage liver failure), you may need a liver transplant to extend your life. Liver transplants are not common.

Surgery Choices

A liver transplant is the only surgical treatment that can help people with end-stage liver failure.

What To Think About

Liver transplantation is a risky, expensive procedure, and donor organs are hard to come by. Most of the time, only people who are in good health (other than having liver disease) are considered for a transplant. You will not be considered if you are using alcohol or drugs or have certain mental health problems.

After a liver transplant, you will need lifelong follow-up care by a specialist. You also will need to take immunosuppressant medicine to keep your body from rejecting the new liver, which may cause you to develop other problems.

Hepatitis C almost always infects the newly transplanted liver. Recurring liver disease after a transplant can be a serious problem and may cause the new organ to fail. But most patients do very well after a liver transplant and are able to live normal lives.

Last updated:	August 27, 2007
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, W. Thomas London, MD - Hepatology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC