liver transplant survival with hep c

[mikeges]

what is the longest you can survive with a liver transplant with hep c?

[mikesimon]

For HCV+ donors see:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Organ-donation-after-SVR/show/1728728

[heart_in_the_keyes]

how is my post confusing?

[searchingforsun]

racky- I believe i did post it as a new question as well? still adjusting to the site...how do i know when people respond? by "adding to watch list?"

heart in the keyes- i am a little confused by your post?

[heart_in_the_keyes]

This is the plan of action for my transplant per my liver specialist....will be to have the transplant....somewhere between 6-12 months after they will be giving me the new pill that will be available by then that will cure the HEP C, Asked at my appt. Wednesday about the Gilead/Solo trial...they won't do because of liver being so decompensated. No to triple TX...no to Gilead.  And I question that post where they said they are getting transplanted with a liver that is infected with HEP C because they have HEP C,  That makes no sense,

[racky2012]

Hi maybe you should post this as a new question so everyone will see it and give you some answers  

[searchingforsun]

Hello! Are there any updates from any commenters on this subject? My dad received his transplant from my bf, liver donor who was only 23 at the time, back in June of 2011. He is now creeping towards grade 2 of scarring and will be starting Pegasus/Riboviron on Monday. He is genotype 2 and hasnt had any issues with rejection. We are looking for more information as far as the possibility of clearing this virus and still having many years ahead? Such a tough rollercoaster we are on. Any experiences will be helpful and appreciated.

Thank you!

[tashka]

Yes, you are correct. They look for the evidence of liver damage-at first laboratory and then histological-before attempting to treat post-transplant. Thank you for clarifying this.

[mikeges]

The doctors are saying that he should or will be given a liver with hep c already because hep c is a blood disease and a clean live will get the disease anyone and the body will reject the liver if it is not infected. Is this true?

[mikeges]

I cannot open that file.

[HectorSF]

Pretransplant patients may benefit from the new meds which have a greater chance of reducing a patient's viral load to UND then current SOC before transplant. After that has been accomplished the new liver will not become infected with the old virus due to the circulating virus.

Also the new anti-viral meds will increase the rate of cure in post transplant patients so the complication of redeveloping cirrhosis and graft failure caused by hepatitis c will be greatly reduced.

For much more details about HCV and liver transplant please see my doctor's paper:
"Treating Hepatitis C Infection in Liver Transplant Recipients"
Norah A. Terrault, and Marina Berenguer

http://sadieo.ucsf.edu/course/old/HCV-LT.pdf

Best-
Hectorsf

[mikesimon]

You said: "That is why every effort is made to attempt treatment with interferon/ribavirin and to eradicate the virus...."

If you are referring to post transplant then I disagree with you. The majority of centers do nothing until there is histological evidence that HCV is damaging the liver. Only then is treatment recommended - at most centers.

Mike

[mikesimon]

20% or more will be cirrhotic by 5 years post transplant. Once a patient is cirrhotic the outlook is not good.

Mike

[tashka]

It is very variable and nobody can predict the survival. I know a patient who lives 20 years with the new liver and still has hepatitis C. For some reason the virus did not destroy his transplanted liver. He is doing very well. Repeated biopsies showed stage 1 liver damage. But some patients don't make it.

What you have to consider is if the virus is still present when the liver is transplanted, it usually attacks the new liver very aggressively. Sometimes it takes just a couple of years to go through all the four stages of liver damage and into cirrhosis. This is much faster than with natural hepatitis C progression. That is why every effort is made to attempt treatment with interferon/ribavirin and to eradicate the virus. If this treatment is successful, it increases the survival greatly.