Textbook of Liver Transplantation. A Multidisciplinary Approach

Part 1. Liver transplantation for chronic liver diseases:

Epidemiology of chronic liver diseases. Indications to liver transplantation (chronic liver diseases, tumours, genetic disorders, ACLF). Referral to the liver transplant center . Evaluation of the recipient. Management of the patient on the waiting list, scoring systems and priority. Organ allocation systems in Europe, U.S. and Asia. Surgical aspects of liver transplantation. Living-related liver transplantation. Critical care of the liver transplant recipient. Surgical complications after liver transplantation (vascular, biliary). Rejection and immunosuppressive regimens. Role of histopathology. Infections in the liver transplant recipient. Metabolic complications after liver transplantation. Renal dysfunction after liver transplantation. Recurrence of the primary liver disease (HBV, HCV, Alcohol, Cholestatic/Autoimmune diseases). De novo tumours after liver transplantation. Graft and patient survival.

 

Part 2. Liver transplantation for acute liver failure:

Epidemiology of acute liver failure. Prognostic scores and timing to liver transplantation. Pre-transplant management. Outcomes after liver transplantation, graft and patient survival.

 

Part 3. Paediatric liver transplantation:

Epidemiology of paediatric liver diseases. Indications to liver transplantation. Outcomes after liver transplantation in the paediatric population.

 

Part 4. Psycho-social aspects of liver transplantation:

Psychiatric and psychological evaluation of the potential liver transplant candidate. Fertility, sexual function and pregnancy after liver transplantation. Adherence and quality of life. Transition to adult care. The role of transplant coordinator, nurse and professional educator.

 

Part 5. Developments and future prospective in liver transplantation:

Donor after cardiac death. Cell therapies and transplantation. Organogenesis. Tolerance in liver transplantation.

Liver transplantations require a complex and varied, multidisciplinary approach involving not only hepatologists and surgeons but also pathologists, psychologists, professional educators, nurses and, in the case of young patients, also pediatricians and development experts. This textbook provides an overview of the management problems involved in liver transplantation for acute and chronic liver disease, pediatric liver transplantation and the psychosocial aspects of liver transplantation. A closing chapter, focusing on the developments and future prospects in liver transplantation, outlines the potential offered by donors after cardiac death, cell therapies and organogenesis. The multidisciplinary approach is also maintained in the selection of authors, all experts actively engaged in the various disciplines involved in liver transplantations. This aspect, together with its precise and didactic descriptions of all phases of liver transplantation for chronic and acute diseases – from managing waiting lists to post-transplant complications – make the book a valuable tool for fellows, trainees, and specialists in the field seeking accurate framework for liver transplantation in its many facets.

 

 

Contributor Bio(s)

Patrizia Burra is Full Professor of Gastroenterology and Head of the Multivisceral Transplant Unit, Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology at the University of Padua, Italy. Since 2015 she is ViceRector on Research Training at Padua University. Following the medical degree and the Diploma on Gastroenterology and Endoscopy, she spent 3 years as research fellow at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK, before completing the PhD in Hepatology at the University of Padua. Patrizia Burra is interested in clinical and translational studies in the setting of liver transplantation, mainly regarding antiviral therapy for HCV recurrence, HBV prophylaxis after transplantation, acute alcoholic hepatitis as early indication for liver transplantation, liver transplantation for NASH and NAFLD, adherence to medical treatments and quality of life of transplant recipients.

She has previously served as President of ELITA, Vice President of ESOT, Chair of ILTS Education Committee, Treasurer of ILTS and ILTS President. She served EASL for 5 years, as EU Policy Councilor until 2016. Currently she is the elected Chair of the Public Affairs Committee 2022–2025 at United European Gastroenterology (UEG). In 2021 she has obtained the Fellow of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (FAASLD). She is also President of the NGO Marina Minnaja Foundation for the research and study of liver transplantation.

Currently she is Co-chair of The Lancet – EASL Commission on liver diseases in Europe from 2018, Deputy Editor of Journal of Hepatology from 2019 and Associate Editor of Transplant International and Digestive and Liver Disease.

She has authored over 340 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, with an H-index of 54 and over 1000 presentations in national and international congresses.