• Centers and Departments
• Back to Transplant Institute
• Liver Transplant
• Your Liver Transplant Team
• How to Make an Appointment
• Indications for Liver Transplant
  • Who Needs a Liver Transplant?
  • Transplantation for Patients with HIV
  • When Transplant is Not and Option
  • Patient Commitment
• Evaluation for Liver Transplant
• After the Liver Evaluation
• Accepted as a Liver Transplant Patient
• Where Does the Deceased Donor Organ Come From
• Waiting for a Liver to Become Available
• Preparations at the Hospital
• The Liver Transplant Operation
• After Your Transplant
• Support Services
• Patient Education and Resources
• Frequently Asked Questions

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