About Liver Transplant

Overview of Liver Transplant

About Us

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.

Functions of Liver

🔋 Regulates Body Fuel Supply

• Produces, stores, and supplies energy
• Produces, stores, and exports fats

🧪 Cleanses the Blood

• Metabolizes drugs, alcohol, and other chemicals in the body

🧬 Manufactures Essential Proteins

• Produces essential body proteins such as:
  • Blood clotting factors

🧠 Regulates Hormone Balance

• Regulates the balance of hormones including:
  • Sex hormones
  • Thyroid hormones
  • Cortisone and other adrenal hormones

🫀 Regulates Cholesterol

• Regulates body cholesterol
• Converts cholesterol into other essential substances

🧂 Regulates Vitamins & Minerals

• Regulates the supply of essential:
  • Vitamins
  • Minerals (e.g. iron and copper)

🧃 Produces Bile

• Produces bile that:
  • Expels wastes from the body
  • Helps with digestion

Understanding the need for a transplant

• 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.

Step‑by‑Step Transplant Process

1. Referral
Patient is referred to the SingHealth liver transplant programme for assessment.

2. Multidisciplinary Team Review (Initial)
A multidisciplinary medical team discusses on preliminary assessment to determine acceptance of patient for further evaluation.

3. 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.

4. Multidisciplinary Team Review (Fitness for Transplant)
The team reviews all the evaluation results to determine the patient’s overall fitness for liver transplantation.

Transplant Pathways

🟠 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.

Conditions we treat

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

• Adult living liver 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.