Liver Transplant Program

Overview

A transplant is commonly considered when the liver can no longer function properly, and liver failure has been diagnosed, or for liver cancer. Liver failure can be caused by a chronic medical condition called “cirrhosis”, or sudden failure can occur following an infection, a complication from medication, or a number of other reasons.

The liver plays many vital roles in your body, including filtering blood and aiding the digestion of nutrients. If liver failure does occur, and no other treatment options are possible, a transplant is necessary.

The Liver Transplant Program at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is the only liver transplant center in the UAE. It was the first in the UAE to carry out a living donor liver transplant and the first to carry out a deceased donor liver transplant. We work very closely with the Cleveland Clinic Transplant Center in the US, one of the largest and most successful liver transplant programs in the world.

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s Transplant Center provides innovative transplantation services to patients from across the region. Our center was the UAE’s first and only multi-organ transplant facility and has performed 386 transplants since its launch in 2017.

• UAE’s First Living Related Liver Transplant
• 1st to Perform Liver Transplant from a Deceased Donor
• 1st in UAE to Perform Combined Kidney-Liver Transplant
• 14-Year-Old the Youngest Living Related Donor Liver Transplant Recipient
• First double lung and liver transplant

When is a Transplant Needed?

A liver transplant is commonly considered in patients who have irreversible liver failure, when no other treatment options are available, or for liver cancer. Conditions that may eventually require a liver transplant include:

• Acute liver failure
• Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) under selected circumstances
• Cirrhosis or end-stage liver disease from various causes, including:

• Non-alcoholic Fatty liver disease
• Chronic Viral Hepatitis
• Autoimmune Hepatitis
• Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
• Alcohol cirrhosis
• Biliary cirrhosis (primary or secondary)
• Wilson’s Disease
• Hemochromatosis
• Alpha I Antitrypsin Deficiency

• Hepatic vein thrombosis (Budd-Chiari Syndrome)
• Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer)
• Inborn errors of metabolism including:

• Alpha-I antitrypsin
• Crigler-Najjar syndrome, Type I
• Glycogen storage disease, Type I
• Wilson's disease
• Hemochromatosis
• Hereditary tyrosinemia type 1
• Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy
• Primary hyperoxaluria type 1
• Miscellaneous: Neuroendocrine tumors with liver metastases (under selected circumstances)