Bariatric Surgery and Liver Transplantation

Duminda Suraweera; Elena G Saab; Gina Choi; Sammy Saab

Bariatric Surgery and Liver Transplantation

Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2017 Mar;13(3):170-175.

Authors

Duminda Suraweera¹, Elena G Saab¹, Gina Choi¹, Sammy Saab¹

Affiliation

¹ Dr Suraweera is a chief medical resident/attending physician in the Department of Medicine at Olive-View Medical Center in Sylmar, California. Ms Saab is a research assistant in the Department of Surgery at the University of California at Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. Dr Choi and Dr Saab are attending physicians in the Departments of Surgery and Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles.

PMID: 28539844
PMCID: PMC5439136

Abstract

Obesity is an important public health and medical concern in the United States. The rate of obesity has steadily risen for the past several decades. Obesity is associated with the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, which is one of the leading indications for liver transplantation. After liver transplantation, recipients tend to gain weight and develop recurrent fatty liver. Over time, recurrent fatty liver may impact patient and graft survival. A bariatric surgical approach may be beneficial in select patients.

Keywords: Liver transplantation; bariatric surgery; cirrhosis; liver disease; obesity.