Liver transplantation. New hope for many patients.

Because of the broad range of physiologic problems and the many potential sources of complications, liver transplantation patients require contributions from virtually the complete spectrum of medical science. The evolving specialty of liver transplantation has eagerly assimilated advances in surgical techniques, anesthetic agents, critical care, nutrition, immunologic manipulation, and tissue preservation. Stimulated by increasingly successful results, the public appears to have slowly accepted the expense of this labor- and technology-intense therapy. The role of workers in this area is to strive not only to improve results but also to control costs.