Liver transplantation and quality of life

To date, more than 50,000 liver transplantations have been performed around the world; the survival rate five years after transplantation ranges from 60% to 65%. One of the fundamental objectives for liver transplantation rea ms is to achieve the best possible quality of life (QOL) for the patients. A concise analysis of the methodology used (15 questionnaires) to measure Q OL of patients with liver transplants is described. The authors suggest tha t now is the time to establish a database so that a validated instrument wi ll be available to compare QOL results from all the liver transplantation p rograms. Liver transplantation is believed to improve QOL, although there a re several problems with some of the papers published on this subject. Some studies are retrospective, whereas in others, patients in bad physical con ditions are excluded from the study; in quite a few prospective studies, de aths are not included in the data analysis. Finally, the authors provide a brief, concise analysis of late complication s and of recurrence of the disease after liver transplantation, which influ ence QOL.