Development of indications and results during 10 years of orthotopic liver transplantation.

Liver transplantation has rapidly emerged in recent years from an uncommon experimental procedure, limited to a few centers, to become a major international effort to support patients with advancing and decompensating liver disease. The excellent results which can be achieved with optimal timing and expert clinical management are now no longer in doubt. The greatest emphasis now must be on obtaining suitable high quality donors at the right time to give the patient the best opportunity to make a full and complete recovery.