About SingHealth Liver Transplant Programme

The SingHealth Liver Transplant Programme was established in 2005 and brings together a multidisciplinary team including HPB/transplant surgeons, hepatologists, infectious disease specialists and allied health professionals to provide holistic liver transplant care. Care is organised around patient needs with one-stop access to doctors.

The liver is a vital organ that performs many essential functions to keep the body healthy:

• Regulates the body’s fuel supply by producing, storing, and releasing energy
• Produces, stores, and exports fats
• Cleanses the blood by metabolising drugs, alcohol, and other chemicals
• Manufactures essential proteins, including blood‑clotting factors
• Regulates hormone balance, including sex hormones, thyroid hormones, and adrenal hormones
• Controls cholesterol levels and converts cholesterol into essential substances
• Regulates essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron and copper
• Produces bile to help remove waste from the body and aid digestion

• End-stage liver disease
• Acute liver failure
• Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma)

These conditions are indicated for liver transplant and are part of the liver transplant programme criteria.

• Referral

Patient is referred to the SingHealth Liver Transplant Programme for assessment.

• Multidisciplinary Team Review (Initial)

A multidisciplinary medical team discusses on preliminary assessment to determine acceptance of patient for further evaluation.

• Patient Evaluation

Comprehensive evaluation of the patient’s suitability for a liver transplant. This includes tests to assess the health status of the other organs such as the heart and lung as the patient would be undergoing a major procedure.

• Multidisciplinary Team Review (Fitness for Transplant)

The team reviews all the evaluation results to determine the patient’s overall fitness for liver transplantation.

We offer a full range of comprehensive services related to liver transplantation including:

• Adult living donor liver transplant
  • Blood group compatible and incompatible
  • Small for size graft
  • Retransplant
  • Patients requiring inflow modulation
  • Patients with complete portal vein thrombosis
  • Pure laparoscopic adult donor hepatectomy

• Adult Deceased donor liver transplant
• Combined solid organ transplant
• Pre transplant recipient assessment
• Liver donor assessment Pre and peri liver transplant management
• Lifetime post-transplant follow-up care
• Post living liver donation care

On top of that, patients will receive full access to supportive care from our multi-disciplinary team.

Deceased Donor Liver Transplant

• Patient is considered for a deceased donor liver transplant.
• Patient is placed on the national waiting list for a deceased donor liver donation.

Living Donor Liver Transplant

• Patient may undergo a living donor liver transplant.
• Potential living donor(s) are evaluated for suitability.