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Age, health prior to operation, postoperative care, and lifestyle all impact life expectancy after a liver transplant. Patients who are not too young or elderly often do better, and excellent aftercare is crucial. Patients can also influence the outcome by taking care of their body afterward.
There are a few factors that influence life expectancy after a liver transplant, making it difficult to determine in advance which patients have the best chance of success. Some of the more important ones include the individual’s age and health prior to the operation. Subsequent postoperative care, including the medications administered, also have a lot to do with it. One detail that patients can usually control is their lifestyle after the operation, which is often one of the determining factors.
The patient’s age is important, as it usually affects how the body copes with a transplant. Patients who are not extremely young or elderly often do better with a new liver. Those whose bodies are too young or underdeveloped to deal well with disease or stress on the body, such as newborns, are usually not the best candidates for a liver transplant. On the other hand, even older patients whose other organs are failing often do not have a high life expectancy after a transplant. This is because being healthy in general is important for the body to accept the new liver.
It is also important to have excellent aftercare to have a long life expectancy after a liver transplant. Immunosuppressant drugs are typically given to help the body accept the new liver, although once three months have gone by without a bad reaction, the odds are generally good that the transplanted liver is working well in the body. Going a year without signs of liver rejection is an even better sign. Of course, having a good medical team to assist the patient in all aspects of aftercare is usually helpful in achieving a good outcome.
The patient can also influence the outcome of the liver transplant process, as taking care of the body afterward offers the best chance of success. For example, the typical liver recipient would not be expected to drink alcohol or use recreational drugs, as even doing so occasionally can have an adverse effect on the liver. It’s also important for patients to stay fit, as being at a healthy weight and exercising regularly can help the body cope with the transplant. Having high blood sugar or high blood pressure usually makes the body work harder than it should, making the body more likely to reject the new organ.
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