Liver transplantation in the human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review provides an overview of the clinical issues involved in liver transplantation in people co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus and addresses the early outcomes. RECENT FINDINGS: The advent of highly active anti-retroviral therapy has changed the life expectancy of people with human immunodeficiency virus, so that patients are no longer dying from progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. However, end-stage liver disease has become a major cause of morbidity in this population. As a result, an increasing number of human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients are becoming potential candidates for liver transplantation. Although human immunodeficiency virus-positivity was previously a contraindication for transplantation, an increasing number of transplant centers have been performing liver transplants in co-infected patients. SUMMARY: Early result of orthotopic liver transplantation in several centers in the US and Europe suggest that orthotopic liver transplantation in human immunodeficiency virus-positive recipients has short-term results comparable to those in human immunodeficiency virus-negative recipients.