Live donor liver transplants at The London Clinic – in
light of recent media coverage
Thursday 27 August 2009
According to recent media reports (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8177826.stm),
an independent inquiry set up to investigate allegations that NHS
organs were given ‘unfairly’ to patients from foreign countries,
has resulted in the Government’s decision to ban all private
transplants of organs from deceased donors in the UK. However,
surgeons in the private healthcare sector will still be able to
carry out procedures using organs from living donors, for example
kidney and liver transplants.
Professor Roger Williams, Professor of
Hepatology at University College London and Joint Clinical Director
of The London Clinic Liver Centre says: “With the long waiting
lists for liver transplants in this country, it is only right that
deceased organs donated in the UK go to its residents. The
guidelines for carrying out live transplants on EU residents need
to be examined as currently they are unclear. Also, there are no
reciprocal arrangements with countries in the EU which allow a UK
resident who is in need of a liver transplant to undergo treatment
in one of the many centres in France, Germany or Italy, let alone
further a field in the EU.”
Live donor transplant is one solution to
current issues surrounding the donation of organs. Other issues
include a significant shortfall in the number of organs donated to
meet patient demand. “The number of cadaver organs available has
fallen in recent years, with 40% of relatives refusing consent to
the use of the organ”, continues Professor Roger Williams. “If we
are to keep up with the numbers requiring a liver transplant, and
sadly the number of patients who die on the waiting list is rising,
we will, as a country, have to do much better where organ donation
is concerned.”
The London Clinic does not practice any
procedures involving organs donated after death, but its liver
centre is one of just a handful of centres of excellence in the UK
offering pioneering live donor transplants and providing the
highest level of care for those patients.
Unlike any other major solid organ in the
human body, the liver’s unique ability to regenerate itself is the
key to saving more lives among those in urgent need of a
transplant. As a result, it is now possible to ‘split’
the liver in two, taking either the right or left lobe from a
‘matching’ live adult donor and transplanting it into a patient in
need.
Professor Williams continues, “Our view at The
London Clinic Liver Centre is that live donor transplant is the
solution for overseas patients wanting to come to the UK for liver
transplantation. Despite the complexity of the procedure, the
results are excellent and we ensure the highest level of care and
safety for both the donor and recipient.”
Professor Rajiv Jalan, Head of the Liver
Failure Group, University College London and Consultant
Hepatologist at The London Clinic Liver Centre adds: “Live donor
liver transplantation offers the only real curative option for
patients with advanced liver disease for whom a cadaveric donor is
not available due to organ shortages. In expert hands, the
procedure is safe and has a very high success rate.”
Research suggests that survival rates for live
donor transplants are approximately the same as those for whole
organ donation, with 90% of patients surviving after the first
year, and 70% still alive five to ten years later.
The London Clinic’s Liver Transplant team
includes the world-renowned surgeons Professor Max Malago, Joint
Clinical Director, Mr Steven Olde Damink and Mr Charles Imber. They
work closely with Professor Rajiv Jalan and Professor Roger
Williams who are the Liver Transplant Hepatologists.
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For more information about live donor liver
transplants at The London Clinic or to speak to any of the
consultants at the liver centre please contact The London Clinic
Liver Centre on 020 7616 7719. For media enquires please contact
The London Clinic Press Office on 020 8786 3860 or
pressoffice@thelondonclinic.co.uk
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