After the failure of all the treatment for chronic liver disease, the referring Physician/Gastroenterologists will refer you to either Apollo Liver Clinics across various City or Apollo Hospital at our 3 Centre to undergo evaluation for Liver Transplant. The Team conducts a wide variety of tests and procedures to determine the Liver condition. Tests, procedures and consultations you may undergo include:
- Laboratory tests, including blood and urine tests to assess the health of your organs, including your liver
- Imaging tests, such as an ultrasound of your liver
- Heart tests to determine the health of your cardiovascular system
- A general health exam, including routine cancer screening tests to evaluate your overall health
- Psychological evaluation to determine whether you fully understand the risks of a Liver Transplant
- Addiction counselling to help people with alcohol, drug or tobacco addictions to quit
- Financial counselling to help you understand the cost of a transplant and post-transplant care, and to determine what costs are covered by insurance
Patient will be monitored in Special Intensive care unit, for better critical care management of any complications. As patients with multiple co-morbidities and organ dysfunction are undergoing Liver Transplant, an appropriate critical care management is required to support prompt graft recovery and prevent systemic complications.
Once these tests and consultations are completed, the CLDT's Selection Committee meets to discuss your case. They determine whether a Liver Transplant is the best treatment for you and whether you're healthy enough to undergo a transplant. If the answer to both questions is yes, then you're placed on the transplant waiting list. Some of the things that might prevent you from getting a liver transplant include:
- Continuing to use alcohol or illegal drugs
- Being at high risk of using drugs or alcohol again after the surgery
- Failing to follow your doctor's instructions, such as taking your medicine when you're not supposed to
- Having too little support from people at home to care for you after the operation
- Having advanced cancer of the liver
- Having another kind of cancer in the past three to five years
- Severe heart, lung or kidney disease
- Severe hardening of the arteries
- Systemic infections
Positioning on the Waiting List
Our Doctors use results of liver function tests and all the Test results at the time of Evaluation to determine your prognosis and your place on the Liver transplant waiting list. Your prognosis is sometimes called your Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score. The higher your MELD score, the more dire your situation. People with higher MELD scores generally are offered donated livers first. MELD scores range from 6 to 40.
Waiting For A New Liver
Waiting for a donor liver could be in week or it could be months. As you wait for a new liver, the doctor will treat any complications of your liver failure, to make you as comfortable as possible. Complications of end-stage liver failure are serious, and you may be frequently hospitalized. If your liver deteriorates, your MELD score is updated.