is liver transplant a good idea?
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A liver transplant is surgery to replace a diseased liver with a healthy liver from another person. A whole liver may be transplanted, or just part of one. In most cases the healthy liver will come from an organ donor who has just died. Sometimes a healthy living person will donate part of their liver.
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Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transported from a donor site to another location.
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Liver donation risks As with any surgical procedure, living-liver donation may involve surgical complications, such as infection, bleeding, blood clots and, in rare cases, death.
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The liver performs essential, life-sustaining functions. While you can't live without a liver completely, you can live with only part of one. Many people can function well with just under half of their liver. Your liver can also grow back to full size within a matter of months.
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It is still possible to become an organ donor if you smoke. Specialist healthcare professionals decide in each individual case whether a person's organs and tissue are suitable for donation, and smokers and people with other other health conditions have saved - and continue to save - lives through organ donation.
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Liver transplant survival rates Your chances of a successful liver transplant and long-term survival depend on your particular situation. In general, about 75% of people who undergo liver transplant live for at least five years.
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A small percentage of liver transplants are completed each year using a portion of a healthy liver from a living donor. Living donation is possible because the liver is the only organ that can regenerate itself. An adult may be able to donate a portion of their liver to a child or another adult.
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Kidney transplantation is considered the treatment of choice for many people with severe chronic kidney disease because quality of life and survival (life expectancy) are often better than in people who are treated with dialysis. However, there is a shortage of organs available for donation.
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That means that for every 100 people who receive a liver transplant for any reason, about 70 will live for five years and 30 will die within five years. People who receive a liver from a living donor often have better short-term survival rates than those who receive a deceased-donor liver.
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There is no age limit for becoming an organ donor. The decision about whether some or all organs or tissue are suitable for transplant is always made by medical specialists at the time of donation, taking into account your medical, travel and social history.
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After you donate, your liver function returns to normal in two to four weeks, and your liver will slowly regrow to nearly its full original size in about a year.
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Solid organ transplantation is a treatment, not a cure, for end-stage organ failure of the kidney, liver, pancreas, heart, and lung. Small intestine and vascularized composite allografts are performed in smaller numbers at specialized centers throughout the country.
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A kidney transplant also provides a better quality of life than dialysis. You are no longer restricted by dialysis sessions. Most kidney patients feel more energetic after a transplant. They can resume their daily activities more easily.
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A lung transplant is a surgical procedure to replace a diseased or failing lung with a healthy lung, usually from a deceased donor. A lung transplant is reserved for people who have tried other medications or treatments, but their conditions haven't sufficiently improved.
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The livers of both the donor and recipient grow back to full size approximately three months after the surgery. There is no financial or medical benefit to donating a kidney or part of your liver, but helping another person live can be a very rewarding experience.
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Having an organ transplant can be a traumatic experience, but imagine how it feels to be transplanted twice! Yes. Sometimes patients will receive heart or liver transplants but die anyway within a few weeks. In very rare cases, the donated organ was still healthy enough to be worth re-transplanting to a new patient.
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Theoretically, a person with advanced organ failure could be given a new and functional body while keeping their own personality, memories, and consciousness through such a procedure. No human brain transplant has ever been conducted.