International Anaesthesiology Clinics: An International View of Perioperative Issues in Liver Transplantation—Part II

Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, April, 2007 by P. Moran

International Anaesthesiology Clinics: An International View of Perioperative Issues in Liver Transplantation--Part II; Volume 44: Number 4, Fall 2006. Ed W T Merritt; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, PO Box 1550, Hagerstown, MD 21740-1580, U.S.A.; US$117; 157 x 230 mm; ISBN: 0020-5907.

The second volume of Issues in Liver Transplantation can be divided into two parts. The first part deals with the Intensive Care Management of the Liver Transplant Recipient, factors involved with extended criteria cadaveric donors, acute liver failure and cardiovascular and coagulation issues in end-stage liver patients requiring transplantation. The authors include many of the pioneers of liver transplantation anaesthesia including David Plevak, Yoogoo Kang, William Merritt and Andre de Wolf.

These chapters are in general, concise and of great value to all anaesthetists involved in liver transplantation.

The second part contains chapters which describe the liver transplantation circumstances in Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Poland and Saudi Arabia. The fact that China expects to have government regulations developed in 2006 and a law concerning brain death developed in 2007 gives some insight into the markedly different environment in which these procedures occur. Hospitals in China have already performed many thousands of liver transplants.

Despite the fact that Australia started using liver transplantation many years before many of these countries, Australia still lags behind in our donor rates and the use of living related donors.

The number of deaths on the Australia-wide waiting list for liver transplants has gradually increased from 5% to 15% of all patients listed for transplantation in the last five years. It will be interesting to see how the next generation of Australian liver transplant surgeons, anaesthetists and hepatologists cope with this dilemma.

P. Moran

Brisbane, Queensland