Files
Download Full Text (147 KB)
Document Type
Poster
Description
There is a stringent process to determine who can receive liver transplants. Alcohol is an important part of this process, with US transplant centers requiring a period of abstinence prior to transplant, lack of access to livers for alcoholics due to beliefs about their ability to stay sober, and monitoring of people considered "high risk" for recidivism after the transplant. While there is clear data on post-transplant alcohol use in transplant recipients with alcoholic hepatitis, more recent data has shown comparable alcohol use rates in non-alcoholic hepatitis patients, which makes the impact of alcohol use on transplant failure rates regardless of primary diagnosis an important area to explore. Additionally, the factors that cause transplant recipients to use alcohol post-transplant have begun to be further explored expanding the group that is at "high risk". Identifying these individuals and providing them with professional help has been shown to decrease rates of relapse. Preventing relapse is vital because research has shown that even one drink increases the risk of liver rejection and death.
Publication Date
Spring 2020
Keywords
Liver transplant; Alcohol
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences | Nursing
Repository Citation
Short , E., & Pinchot , R. (2020). Alcohol Consumption and its Effect on Liver Transplant Failure. .
