LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION - REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE PART-3 - MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS

The first attempted human orthotopic liver transplantation, in 1963, i nvolved a child with biliary atresia, who died on the operating table as a result of uncontrollable coagulopathy, Improvements in immunosupp ression, surgical technique, medical imaging and postoperative care, a s well as more stringent patient selection, have allowed the developme nt of liver transplantation and its universal acceptance as the treatm ent for a variety of liver diseases. The radiologist plays a major rol e in the multidisciplinary transplantation team and must be familiar w ith each stage of orthotopic liver transplantation and its associated complications. In the first article of this series (Can Assoc Radiol J 1997;48[3]:171-178), the authors reviewed the anatomic features and c urrent concepts relevant to orthotopic liver transplantation. In the s econd article (Can Assoc Radiol J 1997;48[4]:231-242), they discussed the vascular and biliary complications of the operation. This, the thi rd and final article in the series, covers the medical complications.