Liver transplants have become common operations worldwide.

A healthy liver is usually obtained from a donor who has recently died, but has not suffered liver injury. The donor liver is transported in a cooled saline solution that preserves the organ for up to 8 hours, thus permitting the necessary tests for donor-recipient matching.

The diseased liver is removed through an incision in the upper abdomen. The donor liver is put in place and attached to the patient's blood vessels and bile ducts. The operation may take up to 12 hours and requires a large amount of transfused blood.

In some cases, a living donor may donate a section of liver for transplant to someone else, often a family member or friend. This poses some risk to the donor because of the nature of the operation, but since the liver can regenerate itself to some extent, both parties usually end up with fully functioning livers after a successful transplant.

• Liver damage (cirrhosis or primary biliary cirrhosis)
• Long-term active infection (hepatitis)
• Hepatic vein clot (thrombosis)
• Birth defects of the liver or bile ducts (biliary atresia)
• Metabolic disorders associated with liver failure (Wilson's disease)

• Heart, lung, or kidney disease
• Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM)
• Other life-threatening diseases

• Reactions to medications
• Problems breathing

• Bleeding
• Infection

• Finding a healthy organ
• Transplant rejection
• Life-long need for immunosuppressive drugs, which weaken the body's ability to fight infections
• Cost