Liver transplantation at the Mayo Clinic

A liver transplantation program was begun at the Mayo Clinic early in 1985. Between March and November of that year, 19 liver transplantation procedures were done in 17 patients whose ages ranged from 9 to 54 years. The preoperative conditions in these patients were primary biliary cirrhosis in eight, primary sclerosing cholangitis in four, chronic active hepatitis in three, and biliary atresia and bile duct tumor in one each. The most frequent complication of the transplantation procedure was cytomegalovirus infection, which occurred in six patients but caused moderate to severe systemic symptoms in only two of them. Of the 17 patients who underwent liver transplantation, 15 are alive. Hepatologists have determined predictive factors for survival in potential candidates in order to improve the timing of the transplantation procedure.