The Changing Trend of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis as an Indication for Liver Transplantation

With effective therapies now available for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, the most common cause of chronic liver disease has become fatty liver disease, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic. A 2009 study showed that nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) was the indication in 10% of liver transplantations (Gastroenterology 2011; 141:1249), and it is expected that this percentage has increased. To find out, researchers analyzed data from 168,441 U.S. adults who were waitlisted or received a liver transplant between 2002 and 2019. Proportion trends were calculated for common etiologies of chronic liver disease at the time of listing.

During the entire study period, indications for transplant listing were HCV in 32%, alcoholic live…