When Transplant is Not and Option
Unfortunately, not all people with severe liver illness are candidates for transplant. Possible barriers to liver transplantation include:
- Active drug and/or alcohol abuse
- Extensive cancer
- Advanced heart or lung disease
- An inability to follow medical instructions
- Not enough social support
- Uncontrolled or untreated psychiatric condition
- Untreated Portopulmonary Syndrome, a condition in which liver cirrhosis causes high blood pressure in the right side of the heart and can lead to heart failure
- Liver tumors that do not meet the Milan criteria (that is, are greater than 5 centimeters in diameter)
- Other active illness(es) that would compromise the success of your transplant, such as infection, obesity, recent malignancy, and limited physical mobility without the likelihood for successful rehabilitation
