Our Liver Transplant Program

A liver transplant, also called a hepatic transplant, is a surgery performed to replace a damaged liver with a whole or portion of a healthy liver from a donor. It can help save a patient’s life when the liver no longer functions normally. Since the liver is the only organ in the body able to regenerate, a transplanted portion of a liver can grow to its full capacity within a few weeks. This means that the transplanted liver can come from a living or deceased donor.

The number of people who need a liver transplant is a lot higher than the number of livers donated. About 8,000 liver transplants are performed in the United States each year. Miami Transplant Institute performs more than 150 liver transplants a year, one of the highest volumes in the world.

A liver transplant becomes necessary when the liver can no longer function properly due to failure, which is a serious, life-threatening disease. A liver can fail due to chronic liver failure (long-term damage) or acute liver failure (extensive damage during a short period of time). Although liver failure can be managed for a short period with medication, a liver transplant is the only cure.

The liver can become damaged due to illness, infection or injury. This long-term damage can lead to cirrhosis, which occurs when scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue. This stops the liver from functioning normally. Some of the most common reasons for chronic liver injury include:

When a patient satisfies the condition for a liver transplant but does not have a doctor lined up, they will be placed on a national transplant waiting list. Depending on the clinical need for a liver transplant, the patient is placed on a high-priority to medium-priority waiting list. The waiting period can range from less than 30 days to more than 5 years. 

Certain factors such as age, location, blood type, body size, and overall health can contribute to the availability of a matching liver–and make the wait time shorter or longer. In some circumstances, a patient is able to shorten their wait time if a family member or friend with the same blood type is willing to donate a part of their liver. 

When a matching liver is found, the transplant team coordinator will call the patient immediately, provide directions before going to the hospital, and ask them to come to the hospital right away.

If the medical provider thinks a patient might need a liver transplant, then they will be referred to a transplant center for an evaluation before they are added to the waiting list. The transplant team will assess if the patient is a good candidate for a liver transplant and determine how urgently they need one. 

As part of the evaluation, a series of tests will be conducted including:

A liver transplant is a major surgery that has a risk of some serious complications. These can happen during, soon after, or even years afterwards. Some of the main complications and risks of a liver transplant are:

A liver transplant surgery typically lasts about 8 to 12 hours. Doctors perform liver transplant surgery by removing the damaged liver and replacing it with a donor’s liver. Surgery often takes longer if the patient’s had previous surgeries, due to scar tissue.

During a liver transplant, the surgeon will:

After the surgery, the patient will be taken to the intensive care unit (ICU) and be closely monitored for a few days.

After a liver transplant, the patient will need good nutrition to help the body heal and maintain health. It’s important to eat enough calories and protein to allow the incision to heal and fight infection. A nutritionist or dietitian will provide a healthy eating plan which may include the following recommendations:

It will take about 6 weeks to fully recover from a liver transplant. After a week, the patient can begin to do gentle movement such as walking. Over time, they can slowly increase the amount of walking or add other light activity. However, it is important for patients to avoid heavy lifting, pushing or pulling until 6 weeks after the transplant to prevent tearing the incision. After 6 weeks, the patient is typically able to resume normal exercise.

If you or a loved one needs a liver transplant, Miami Transplant Institute’s multidisciplinary team will provide the best possible care. Our knowledge, experience, and leading-edge procedures deliver patient outcomes that exceed national averages.

Miami Transplant Institute has been performing liver transplants for almost 50 years with more than 4,000 livers since 1988. Our team can transplant new livers in patients who have been turned down by other centers because of their age or medical conditions, physicians at other transplant centers send their most complex cases to us.