Not Medical Advice: According to The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, "chronic liver failure due to cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C" is the most common reason for liver transplantation in the United States. The second most common reason is "cirrhosis caused by long-term alcohol abuse".
Other reasons for liver transplantation include cancers originating in the liver such as hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatoblastoma, and cholangiocarcinoma.
People with either acute or chronic liver failure may need a liver transplant to survive.
Acute liver failure (ALF) happens suddenly. Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the leading cause of ALF in the United States. The most common cause of DILI is an overdose of acetaminophen (Tylenol).
Chronic liver failure, also called end-stage liver disease, progresses over months, years, or decades. Most often, chronic liver failure is the result of cirrhosis, a condition in which scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue until the liver cannot function adequately.
Many other liver diseases also cause cirrhosis, including:
other forms of chronic hepatitis, including chronic hepatitis B and autoimmune hepatitis
diseases that affect the bile ducts—tubes that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder and small intestine—including biliary atresia, Alagille syndrome, primary biliary cirrhosis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis
hemochromatosis, a genetic condition in which iron builds up in the liver
Wilson disease, a genetic condition in which copper builds up in the liver
nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, a disease caused by fat and inflammation in the liver
To learn more about liver transplantation, visit The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Tip! Find out How to Keep Your Liver Healthy at WebMD.