Right now there are about 15,000 people in the US who need a liver transplant. Annually only about 6,000 livers are donated at the cost of around $300,000 each. They’re expensive and rare, but a new procedure that only replaces part of the liver is showing promise. Basically the new process adds part of a healthy liver to the diseased liver, the new healthy liver cells then work their way in between damaged cells and allow the patient’s liver to operate pretty normally. Less than 150 people have received the new procedure, but someday this process could elongate the lives of many, and possible even replace liver transplanting procedures altogether.
Partial liver transplants show promise
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