What Is Liver Dialysis?

Liver dialysis is a process which removes toxins from the liver in order to sustain patients until a liver transplant can be done. Unlike kidney dialysis, which can keep patients alive for months or years, liverdialysis is considered a very temporary solution for chronic liver failure. Filtration can be effective at removing toxins from the The act of liverliver for several weeks to a few months, taking some of the strain off the ailing organ.

Although liver dialysis treatments are still being developed and improved upon, they has been approved for use in patients with chronic hepatits C , as well as other severe liver disease. Patients who have to undergo this procedure have generally exhausted all other options other than a liver transplant. The outlook for dialysis patients is fair if a donor is found quickly enough. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to find a donor liver.

Many liver dialysis patients find donors through family. In these cases, only a portion of the donor liver is taken so that both patient and donor survive the surgery. This is called a live organ donation.