Matching Liver transplants due to Advanced Hepatitis C

[Willg]

My father-in-law is suffering from advanced stages of Hepatitis C which has resulted in the need for a liver transplant. He is trying to find a family member that would be a suitable match.

My question may be too laymen, but can a B- person recieve a liver from a O+ person?

I am sure that matching livers is more difficult than this so if you could allibrate on this subject it would be greatly appreciated.

[new-sojourn]

no

[imkindly]

YES, a person with O + blood can donate part of their liver to someone with B - blood.

RH factors (+ or -) do not affect LIVER transplants.

[imkindly]

willg, here's a page full of frequently asked questions:

http://www.mssm.edu/rmti/liverdonor.shtml

[new-sojourn]

Well, you are right and I was wrong. altho they prefer a match to cut down on rejection drugs and transfusion problem.

Transplants should be a last resort after all tx options have been exhausted.  Too many times uninformed medical people think its the 1st choice.  I know that many who were told that the only way to survive was w/transplanting are proving the 'experts' wrong.  Many of us tx the virus and complications of the infection, make lifestyle changes and no longer need a transplant.  This level of healing and damage reversal is just being recognized.

Transplants, esp living donor transplants, should be considered carefully.  My friend, Jack Slater, has an on-going series in the SEATTLE TIMES on life on the transplant list.  Facts and a real life experiencs sometimes paints a different story than we have in our minds.

[imkindly]

That's true :) Lifestyle choices play a big part in your health.

willg (and anyone else considering transplant) needs to realize that there's alot involved.
Whether it's a cadaver transplant or a living donor transplant (either one)-- first a person has to be "evaluated" by the transplant center.
(A person must be at least Stage B or Stage C cirrhosis to even be referred for an evaluation)
(Stage A cirrhosis (end stage hepatitis) is not ill enough to consider transplant)

The "evaluation" is a series of tests and interviews, to see if a person is a good candidate for transplant.
(Not all pass the evaluation).

Once a person does pass the evaluation, they are placed on the liver transplant list.
Then they are assigned a MELD Score based on how ill they are. (The MELD score is calculated by using Bilirubin, INR and Creatinine.... extra MELD points are given to anyone on dialysis (kidney failure caused by liver failure is common in Stage C cirrhosis)

When a (cadacer) donor liver is found--- the person on the wait list with the highest MELD (along with compatible blood type and similar body size) is offered the liver.
--- That wait can be very long. (My husband spent 21 months on the waiting list before receiving his transplant)

Living donor transplants allow a person to skip that "wait" (skip the part about 'competing" by MELD)...
.... and most important, it allows a person to skip the chance of dying while waiting for their transplant.

(Because of an organ DONOR SHORTAGE----> 18 people on the Transplant Waiting List die everyday (Everyday!)--- waiting.