Liver transplantation in children and adults

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of modern domestic and foreign literature on the problems of liver transplantation in children and adults. Liver transplantation is performed for more than 50 years and it has become a reliable, rational way, and sometimes the only life-saving treatment for children and adults suffering from diffuse liver disease or unresectable tumors. Currently, the Russian Federation opened 14 centers for liver transplantation (in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Belgorod, Krasnodar, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhniy Novgorod), which is performed annually 200-240 operations. Estimated demand for the provision of this service is much higher: 52-64 center, and 2000-2500 operations per year. However, liver transplantation in children performs only in two centers in Moscow. Possibility of timely planning of liver transplantation in children of any age has now become a reality, but with a very limited capacity. Recently there has been improvement in diagnostic capabilities to identify various congenital and acquired diseases of the liver in children requiring liver transplantation. We can already predict the increase in demand for this type of surgery. In the North-Western Federal District is a center in which possible liver transplantation in adults, while the children’s opportunities for transplantation in the region do not have. The reasons leading to liver transplantation in children and adults are different. In adult practice dominated by cirrhosis in the outcome of chronic viral hepatitis B and C, whereas in children biliary atresia and congenital metabolic disorders.