ABSTRACT
Liver Transplantation Patricia A. Sheiner, Rosemarie Gagliardi, D. Sukru Emre In 1963, Thomas Starzl performed the first successful orthotopic liver transplan
tation in a human being. Until the 1980s, however, liver transplantation was associ ated with poor survival rates. Then, with the introduction of new antirejection medications and organ preservation solutions, survival rates began to improve, and orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) became an accepted therapy for advanced liver dis ease. In 1983, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus conference concluded that OLT for end-stage liver disease “deserves broad application.” Presendy, 1-year patient survival rates of 85-90% and 5-year patient survival rates of 70% are very common.
