Guest guest Posted December 18, 2002 Report Share Posted December 18, 2002 Dear Marty, The MELD scale is the current measure for liver transplants, it takes the place of the Child's Pugh(?) scale as of Feb. of this year. It uses 3 tests for qualification: bilirubin, INR and creatinine. If you go to UNOS.org you can find the info and a calculator. They also take into consideration other things if you are equal with someone else. Hope this helps! Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2003 Report Share Posted May 22, 2003 My hubby was in the hospital last week and I faxed his LFT to Emory.....His MELD was 24. They want fresh blood and new score. His numbers are due May 27th and they will not accept May 7th numbers when he was sick and I took him to ER. They gave him shots of vitiman K and his numbers may be down.......but he never wakes up unless i make him wake up to try and eat......He was MELD 13 three months ago......The Dr here told me his time is short without a transplant soon.......What do you think since you all have knowledge more than me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2003 Report Share Posted June 17, 2003 he also has had 2 terrible bleeds.varices and that also does not go into account anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2003 Report Share Posted June 17, 2003 Dian: I think if the encephalopathy is that bad and he feels very ill, the time for transplant is as soon as it can be accomplished. There are so many criteria set up that don't take individual variances into account. My heart goes out to both of you.....Marty [ ] Meld How do you all feel about the new MELD score. My husband was a 13 which means they want scores every 3 months. He was hospitalized and his score was 24. The hospital would not accept that cause it had not been 3 months. After 3 weeks in the hospital, lots of blood and vitamin K he had his blood work and is 13 again......now he is sick again but not due for bloodwork till August since a 13 is every 3 months. His doctor here today told me this system is crazy....he need a transplant now. He dont even know what day it is....and he used to have a high paying job with a sharp mind.What do you all think about the new MELD score??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2003 Report Share Posted June 18, 2003 I wasn't under the impression that the numbers could only be checked a certain amount of times but rather that was the minimum so that the person would be kept active on the list. I'm not sure who to ask but a person who goes into liver failure doesn't need to what 3 months! That seems to defeat the purpose. I'd ask more questions and have your dr. call UNOS for verification, I'm not sure if you can call directly, but I really do believe that interpretation is incorrect. Of course, I'm not a liver specialist, I'm just giving my opinion. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2003 Report Share Posted June 18, 2003 Amy...that is exactly what I'm trying to say...they give people with certain meld scores certain intervals because they are relatively certain that say those at 13 will not need transplanted in the next 3 months and there are others who are more serious than they...of course this doesn't mean that those people will be forgotten for 3 months, a person's doctor will keep current with his apparent condition and if need be reevaluate him before the 3 mos. are up...certainly if one goes into failure for what ever reason he will immediately be elevated towards the top...this method of evaluation is fairer than Child-Pugh scores because Child Pugh is subjective... a person can look a lot sicker than he is... C-P relies on such things as varices, encephalopathy,and jaundice which have no definitive way of scoring them ....therefor it's up to the doctor to determine how sick you are based on his opinion....there may be those who would score lower on child pugh than he would on MELD... and vice versa... do you understand what I'm saying here. Also C-P has a range of only 9 numbers Because of the subjective nature of scoring a person with a score of 6 may actually be closer to 7 or 8 and be denied a higher place on the list even if he deserved it. The MELD has less of a chance of that happening. The bottom line of all of this is ...the sickest ones get the liver first,,,,and to be fair this is as it should be... love jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2003 Report Share Posted June 18, 2003 Dian The MELD system can be very frustrating. What is sick about it is that I hope when I go in for my weekly labs that my numbers will be bad so my score stays high. On the other hand I am a re-transplant and the studies show that the best outcome is when people are retransplanted before their creatinine levels get above 2.0. Well, the MELD score is determined by the creatine (kidney involvement), bilirubin, and INR (clotting time) so you don't want a high creatine but if you want a higher MELD, one way to get it is for the kidneys to be involved. It is frustrating! Personally I find it frustrating since I have to adhere to it. Objectively I do believe it makes sense, people with higher MELDs are sicker and move to the top of the list faster. If the blood and vit K hadn't worked, your husband would be real sick and would have stayed closer to the top. I don't think anyone should have to wait as long as we do, but that is why I volunteer for Donor awareness education, it is the only solution to increasing the supply of donated organs. I understand your frustration.Waiting is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Are there any pre and post transplant support groups in your area? It helps. Patty -----Original Message-----From: dianwalker@... [mailto:dianwalker@...] Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 10:13 PM Subject: [ ] MeldHow do you all feel about the new MELD score. My husband was a 13 which means they want scores every 3 months. He was hospitalized and his score was 24. The hospital would not accept that cause it had not been 3 months. After 3 weeks in the hospital, lots of blood and vitamin K he had his blood work and is 13 again......now he is sick again but not due for bloodwork till August since a 13 is every 3 months. His doctor here today told me this system is crazy....he need a transplant now. He dont even know what day it is....and he used to have a high paying job with a sharp mind.What do you all think about the new MELD score??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2003 Report Share Posted June 18, 2003 Amy, you are correct. Patty -----Original Message-----From: holzboog@... [mailto:holzboog@...] Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 1:32 PM Subject: [ ] Re: Meld I wasn't under the impression that the numbers could only be checked a certain amount of times but rather that was the minimum so that the person would be kept active on the list. I'm not sure who to ask but a person who goes into liver failure doesn't need to what 3 months! That seems to defeat the purpose. I'd ask more questions and have your dr. call UNOS for verification, I'm not sure if you can call directly, but I really do believe that interpretation is incorrect. Of course, I'm not a liver specialist, I'm just giving my opinion.Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 19, 2003 Report Share Posted June 19, 2003 Our transplant Center is 2 hours away...too far to drive every week but they do have support groups down there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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