Immunosuppression in Liver Transplantation

Acute and chronic liver diseases are dynamic processes causing numerous physiological and metabolic derangements. There are many supportive treatments for end-stage liver disease but the only definitive treatment is liver transplantation and the current effectiveness of liver transplantation, to a large extent, can be attributed to improvements in immunosuppression. This chapter describes a brief history of immunosuppression in liver transplantation, the rationale for immunosuppression, commonly used immunosuppression medications, common immunosuppressive regimens and unique circumstances that may require tailoring of medications. We also provide a brief introduction to future agents on the horizon.