Dr Ankur Garg

Liver Failure

Liver transplant in India is the best treatment option for people who have end-stage liver failure that can't be controlled using other treatments and for some people with liver cancer. Liver failure can occur rapidly, in a matter of weeks (acute liver failure), or it can occur slowly over months and years (chronic liver failure).

Liver failure has many causes, including:

Liver cirrhosis

Alcoholic liver disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Early-stage liver cancer

Hemochromatosis

Primary biliary cirrhosis

Primary sclerosing cholangitis

Wilson's disease

Biliary duct atresia

Cystic fibrosis.

A liver transplant in India can be done using a living donor or a cadever i.e. a person who has died ad donated his liver. There are very few surgeons and hospitals that perform a cadever liver transplant also the waiting is quite long.

Finding a Donor

A small percentage of liver transplants are completed each year using a portion of a liver from a living donor. If you have a family member or friend who is willing to donate part of his or her liver to you, talk to your transplant team about this option. However now a days cadever liver transplant is also being done. Dr Ankur Garg at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai, India is one of the best liver transplant surgeons in India. He has a very high success rate. The biggest challange that comes in case of cadaver liver transplant is that of the availability. However at Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai the waiting period is around 2-3 months.

Living-donor transplants have good results, just like transplants using livers from deceased donors. But fewer living transplants are performed because of restrictions on the donor's age, size and health that make finding a good match difficult. The surgery carries significant risks for the donor. If you're receiving a liver transplant from a living donor, such as a friend or family member, surgeons will transplant a portion of the donor's liver in your body. Surgeons first operate on the donor, removing the portion of the liver for transplant. Then surgeons remove your diseased liver and place the donated liver portion in your body. They then connect your blood vessels and bile ducts to the new liver.

The transplanted liver portion in your body and the portion left behind in the donor's body regenerate rapidly.

Cost of Liver Transplant

The cost of liver transplant surgery in India is in the range of USD 45000-60000 which includes the cost for the donor and the recipient. However the costs could vary depending upon the general health of the recipient and the co-morbidities present.

Special medications are used more often than not to prevent the rejection of the liver and the cost of these medications are in the range of USD 10000-12000 depending on the brand of the medicine.

The hospital stay for the donor is around 7 days and the hospital stay for the recipient is around 30 days

The patient and the donor both need to be under the observation of the gastroenterologist even after discharge from the hospital to make sure that nothing goes wrong and if there is any kind of problem then it is managed properly and in time to prevent the rejection of the transplanted liver.

There are many touts in the Indian market who would promise to get you a donor for a price, you must stay clear of such people as this is an illegal act in India and both the recipient and the tout could land in trouble.