Editorial
Copyright ©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2008; 14(20): 3117-3122
Published online May 28, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.3117
Liver transplantation: Yesterday, today and tomorrow
Osman Abbasoglu
Osman Abbasoglu, Department of Surgery, Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Sihhiye, Ankara 06100, Turkey
Author contributions: Abbasoglu O designed research and wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Osman Abbasoglu, Professor, Department of Surgery, Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Sihhiye, Ankara 06100, Turkey. osmanabbasoglu@yahoo.com
Telephone: +90-532-3649039
Fax: +90-312-4262421
Received: October 15, 2007
Revised: March 15, 2008
Accepted: March 22, 2008
Published online: May 28, 2008
Abstract

With the advances in technical skills, management of postoperative complications and improvements in immunosuppressive drugs, liver transplantation is the standard treatment for many patients with chronic liver disease. Today, shortage of donor organs seems to be the major limiting factor for the application of liver transplantation. This review focuses on five issues that are challenging to clinical practice of liver transplantation and relevant to gastroenterologists. These include living donor liver transplantation, recurrent viral hepatitis, non-heart-beating donors, hepatocellular carcinoma, and ABO incompatible liver transplantation. Living donor and non-heart beating donor transplantations were initiated as a solution to increase the donor organ pool and it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of these donors. Recurrent hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma following liver transplantation are among major problems and ongoing research in these diseases may lead to better outcomes in these recipients.

Keywords: Liver transplantation; Hepatitis C virus; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatocellular carcinoma; ABO incompatibility; Living donor