Present status of transplant hepatologists at transplant centers in Japan

Abstract

In Japan, the yearly number of liver transplantations reached the highest level of 570 cases in 2005, and decreased thereafter to 395. One-year survival after liver transplantation increased from 79.4% in deceased donors and 83.2% in living donors to 89.2% and 85.4%, respectively. To overview the present status of transplant hepatologists at transplant centers in Japan, a nation-wide survey was conducted in 2020 to both transplant surgeons and hepatologists at 14 facilities which performed more than 10 cases of liver transplantation in 2017. Although hepatologists performed preoperative evaluation and consultation at outpatient clinics, surgeons did not recognize the fact. As hepatologists were interested in preoperative treatment, postoperative immunosuppressant control and lifestyle-related chronic disease, the constitution of cooperation systems and training systems is mandatory to securely train transplant hepatologists.