The London Clinic Liver Centre

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The London Clinic Liver Centre

Specialist Centres < London Clinic < London Clinic liver

London, United Kingdom

The London Clinic is a fully equipped acute hospital with a consultant led intensive care unit. It offers a wide range of medical and surgical diagnosis and treatment options, supported by a renowned consults and dedicated staff.

Since 1932, the range of services has expanded greatly and now includes liver transplants, stem cell transplants and robotic assisted surgery.

The London Clinic treats many international patients and in 2010 opened the new purpose-built London Clinic Cancer Centre including CyberKnife radiosurgery. The London Clinic is the largest independently owned, non profit hospital in the UK and is located in the heart of London's medical community on Harley Street, with over 270 beds and 12 operating theatres, including dedicated endoscopy suites and a day surgery unit.

Liver tumours and cancers

The London Clinic offers a wide range of treatments for patients with liver tumours or liver cancer, which can apply to primary or secondary tumours in appropriate cases. Briefly these include:

Resection - surgical removal of the cancer and surrounding tissue. The 'MEVIS' computerised operating system processes MRI and CT images into a three dimensional reconstruction of a tumour, which allows surgeons to plan everything before they make an incision.

Lobectomy and Segmentectomy - removal of a lobe or segment of a lobe, after which the liver may regenerate itself to its original size.

Radiofrequency ablation - a probe is inserted under guidance and high energy radio waves are selectively fired to heat up and destroy the tumour and surrounding tissue. This may be done alone or in combination with surgery.

Chemoembolisation - a small catheter is inserted under X-ray guidance which is used to deliver localised chemotherapy to block off the blood supply to the tumour. This method alows delivery of high concentrations of chemotherapy to the target area without exposing the entire body to the full effect of the drugs.

Portal vein embolisation - a similar procedure which blocks off the blood flow to the affected part of the liver, allowing the non-cancerous part to regenerate so that the tumour can be surgically removed.

Transplantation - sometimes the best option, particularly in primary liver cancer.

CyberKnife radiosurgery - fine, high power radio beams are fired from multiple angles to destroy complex shaped tumours. This is not suitable for all cases and may form part of a wider treatment. It can sometimes be used to reduce the tumour size and allow time for a suitable transplant donor to be found.

Liver Centre facilities

The London Clinic treats liver patients from around the world and has dedicated beds for major medical and surgical cases, as well as day case management.

Integrated support services include:

Radiology for the full range of liver imaging techniques.

Fibroscan® is a painless alternative to liver biopsy. It uses a mechanical pulse and ultrasound scanning to test for build-up of tough, hardened scar tissue from liver disease, allowing early detection and treatment.

Liver biochemistry

Liver immunology

Genetic screening

Full hepatitis virological service

There is also 24 hour cover for emergency admissions and consultations out of hours and over weekends, an emergency rota for GI endoscopy and there are specialist liver facilities in the Intensive Care Unit.

Diagnostic tests

ALT (alanine-amino transferase) testing through a small blood sample also picks up early signs of liver damage. Common causes of this are raised fat levels in the liver caused by exess alcohol intake or poor diet, but hepatitis, side effects from drugs and genetic or auto-immune conditions can also be factors.

TIPPS procedure for intractable ascites and variceal bleeding. Portal haemodynamic measurements and transjugular liver biopsies in assessment of cirrhosis and unexplained liver disorders.

Live donor liver transplant

In this procedure only part of the liver is taken from a related donor and it relies upon the liver's ability to regenerate itself and to regrow after the operation. There are risks to the donor but these are mitigated as far as possible and world-wide this procedure is gaining ground. Read more...

A note from Clinical Director, Prof Roger Williams CBE

Opportunities for the treatment of liver disorders are advancing at a tremendous pace with gene therapy, hepatocyte transplantation, remodelling of diseased livers, pharmacodynamic therapy for portal hypertension and an ever-extending range of effective anti-hepatitis viral agents.

The success of transplantation and the gift of life given to end-stage liver disease patients never cease to amaze me.

On the surgical side, the scope for major surgical resections along with adjuvant chemotherapy and new techniques of enhancing hepatic regeneration is another rapidly advancing area.

At The London Clinic Liver Centre, we offer the highest technological service matched by an expert and caring staff, the physical setting encouraging the patient's recovery and including support for their families and carers.

Integral to the introduction of new research findings are active links with academic centres both in this country and abroad, including my own Institute at University College London.

Liver care is an increasingly global health issue in countries of the Middle and Far East as well as in the West.

London Clinic liver consultants

Visit the London Clinic liver consultants page for details of surgeons and physicians.

MHL (Medilux Healthcare Ltd.) promotes selected clinics and certain specialities within individual hospitals, where we believe the standards of care and medical equipment to be exceptional. We provide you with general information and details of how to make contact with the centre, but we shall not be responsible for the quality of any diagnosis or treatment given or for the failure to diagnose or treat any condition.

Sometimes we provide a dedicated e-mail address and we pass your enquiry to the relevant department but we cannot advise or enter into correspondence about individual cases and we do not arrange or facilitate treatments.

Important note to all patients

Please e-mail londonclinic@mhlhealth.com and The London Clinic will respond directly. MHL is not authorised to discuss individual cases.

Enquiries to London Clinic

International visitors

For further details of The London Clinic and how to get there, visit The London Clinic page.

Liver dialysis

This is something most people associate with kidney disease. But a new generation of dialysis-type machines is bringing hope to those whose livers have packed up and are desperately awaiting a suitable donor organ. One such device is the Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating Systems, or MARS. The patient’s blood is pumped through a membrane that removes toxins just like the liver would. One recent study showed MARS increased survival rates among patients who went on to have a transplant from 77% to 94%.

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