Current state of medical tourism involving liver transplantation-the risk of infections and potential complications

Abstract

Liver transplant has been shown to significantly improve mortality and quality of life in various liver diseases such as acute liver failure, end-stage liver disease, and liver cancer. While the organ transplant demand is continuing to rise, the organ donation supply remains unmatched. The organ shortage, high cost, and long waiting lists have stimulated a desire for routes that may be unethical. This process which is named transplant tourism is the term used to describe traveling to another country to purchase an organ for transplant. Liver transplant tourism has been associated with post-transplant complications and higher mortality compared to a domestic liver transplant. Improper pre-and post-transplant infectious screening, inadequate opportunistic infection prophylaxis, and loss to follow-up were noted in patients who travel abroad for a liver transplant. It is crucial to understand the risk of transplant tourism to prevent morbidity and mortality.

Keywords: Commercial transplant; Liver transplant; Organ tourism; Transplant tourism.

Figure 1

Transplant tourism models. 1: Donor and recipient from the same country travel to another country for transplantation; 2: Donor travels to the country where the recipient resides; 3: Recipient travels to the country that the donor resides; 4: Donor and recipient from different countries travel to the third country for transplantation.