Liver transplant for George Best

George Best is undergoing a liver transplant at a London hospital.

His wife Alex, 29, went with him to the private Cromwell Hospital in Kensington. The couple were contacted when a donor suddenly became available.

Surgeons began the operation at 10am Tuesday morning. It can last for anything between six and 16 hours depending on complications.

The 56-year-old former Manchester United star had been on stand-by for seven months for a transplant after years of alcohol abuse left his liver permanently damaged.

His agent Phil Hughes said: "Yes, it's on. George is in the hospital at the moment. He had just got back from holiday. I can't comment further at the moment. All I can say is that he is in the very good hands of the top man in his field."

The surgery is being supervised by Professor Roger Williams who said: "The operation is proceeding satisfactorily but it is very early hours. So far, all is going well and I will be preparing a further progress report later in the day."

Professor Williams added: "After seven months of waiting, he was getting very fed up and I think he was very relieved and grateful that after several near goes, we are finally doing it." Liver expert Professor John Summerfield, of Imperial College London, said: "It's a big operation which takes many hours. He should have a very good chance of success - around a 90 per cent chance of surviving five years. The operation itself is not that complicated - it's plumbing, joining things together.

"The main problem is the risk of rejection of the new liver, but there are some very strong anti-rejection drugs around now."

Regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Best has fought a long battle against alcoholism and was warned two years ago that he would die if he did not give up drinking. Surgeons decided that a transplant was the only option.

There are about 200 adults waiting for a liver transplant in the UK. The average waiting time is around three months, but patients must be in good physical shape before they can be considered for the complex surgery. Best, a TV pundit and newspaper columnist, wrote in last week's Night and Day magazine in the Mail on Sunday about waiting for the operation.

He explained that he and Alex had been forced to book a hotel an hour from the airport on their holiday in Malta to be sure they could reach a hospital within six hours.

He said: "We have been a bit naughty, because I should be stuck at home waiting for a call telling me the transplant is on and to high tail it to the hospital.

"But I have been waiting for almost eight months now and have cancelled holiday after holiday."

In March, Best suffered internal bleeding and spoke of his worry that the setback could jeopardise his chances of having the transplant.

But after the agonising wait Best found himself in the middle of a flurry of activity last night.

For the operation to be a success, the organs must be removed and transplanted as quickly as possible from the dead donor to the live patient.

The donor, although clinically dead, would have had their heart kept beating on a life support machine while Best got to hospital to undergo tests to ensure he was a suitable match and physically able to endure the operation.

Best would then be prepared for the operating theatre. Meanwhile, the donor patient would have been taken off the life support machine and taken into another theatre.

Surgeons would have removed the liver, ensuring that the organ and all the cardiovascular connections were kept intact.

It would then have been packed in a special ice box and rushed, either by ambulance or helicopter, to the Cromwell Hospital where Best's surgical team were waiting.

Liver expert Professor Summerfield said: "The really risky bits are removing the organ from the donor, and the risk of infection after the operation."

When doctors first decided he needed a transplant, Best was placed on a waiting list collated by UK Transplant, the authority which matches available organs to patients. From then on, it was matter of "wait and see".

Very seriously-ill liver patients who are close to death are rated as "super urgent" and no matter where in the country an organ becomes available, it is offered to them first.

But Best was not rated in this category, and so joined the 200 other people throughout the UK who are waiting for a transplant.