Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2018; 24(26): 2785-2805
Published online Jul 14, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i26.2785
Liver transplantation and alcoholic liver disease: History, controversies, and considerations
Claudio Augusto Marroni, Alfeu de Medeiros Fleck Jr, Sabrina Alves Fernandes, Lucas Homercher Galant, Marcos Mucenic, Mario Henrique de Mattos Meine, Guilherme Mariante-Neto, Ajacio Bandeira de Mello Brandão
Claudio Augusto Marroni, Sabrina Alves Fernandes, Lucas Homercher Galant, Guilherme Mariante-Neto, Ajacio Bandeira de Mello Brandão, Graduate Program in Medicine: Hepatology, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre 90430-080, RS, Brazil
Claudio Augusto Marroni, Alfeu de Medeiros Fleck Jr, Sabrina Alves Fernandes, Lucas Homercher Galant, Marcos Mucenic, Mario Henrique de Mattos Meine, Guilherme Mariante-Neto, Ajacio Bandeira de Mello Brandão, Liver Transplant Adult Group, Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre 90035-072, RS, Brazil
Sabrina Alves Fernandes, Nutrition at the Centro Universitário Metodista (IPA), Porto Alegre 90420-060, RS, Brazil
Author contributions: All authors reviewed and analyzed the literature and contributed to the writing of the manuscript; Marroni CA also provided the overarching intellectual input into the study design and edited the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Claudio Augusto Marroni, MD, PhD, Professor, Graduate Program in Medicine: Hepatology, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Rua José Kanan Aranha, 102, Jardim Isabel, Porto Alegre 91760-470, RS, Brazil. nmarroni@terra.com.br
Telephone: +55-51-999638306 Fax: +55-51-32483202
Received: April 3, 2018
Peer-review started: April 4, 2018
First decision: April 27, 2018
Revised: May 23, 2018
Accepted: June 16, 2018
Article in press: June 16, 2018
Published online: July 14, 2018
Processing time: 100 Days and 8 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Alcohol consumption accounts for 3.8% of annual global mortality worldwide. Cirrhosis is a common complication of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and when end-stage liver disease is reached, the only chance of survival is liver transplantation (LT). There are controversies and ethical dilemmas associated with LT for ALD. This study reviews the history and controversies and considers the development of, indications for, and outcomes of LT in ALD, including severe acute alcoholic hepatitis. Relapse, therapeutic options, and outcomes are emphasized.