Liver regenerate

[kishdlf]

My sister had surgery more than 2 weeks ago for a tumor on her pancreas. She was going to get the whipple procedure done. The tumor ended up also being on the portal vein so they had to remove part of the vein and replace it with artificial vein. Now this past Saturday March 8th the doctor says she is in critical condition that she was having multiple organ failure. Her liver is only functioning at 15% or less and her kidneys were failing and her lung was collapsing. Now 4 days later her kidneys are functioning a little better, they are doing dialysis for that. She is on the breathing machine for her lungs and those are doing a bit better. Her liver is the only thing that hasn't responded. The liver needs to regenerate. They have given her a medicine that is typically used for people that overdose on tylenol because it damages the liver so it should help the liver somewhat. I was wondering, is there anything else they can do for the liver? Is there any kind of medicine that they can put that will help regenerate the liver??? They mentioned a liver transplant but that they haven't gotten back the results on the tumor being cancer or not. They say they do believe it is cancer and that they will not transplant a liver on a patient with cancer, and that she wouldn't survive the transport. What else can they do? Please HELP!

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  I'm really sorry to hear about your sister's predicament. From the information you've given, it seems that your sister's condition is quite precarious. Unfortunately, there is no medicine which will stimulate the liver to regenerate.  The most the doctors can do is to give her the best supportive care and hope that with the support, and with time, the liver can recover enough for more definitive treatment to be done.