Alcohol-associated liver disease is now the single most common reason Americans need liver transplants — and one of the most vexing challenges in transplant medicine has always been the risk that patients relapse into heavy drinking after surgery, threatening the transplanted organ and potentially making them ineligible for future transplantation. A landmark study published June 3, 2026 by Mayo Clinic researchers in the Liver Transplantation journal may have found a breakthrough answer to that challenge.
The study, led by Dr. Channa Jayasekera, Mayo Clinic transplant hepatologist, describes PACT — Preventing Alcohol-related Complications after Transplantation — a first-of-its-kind multidisciplinary proactive protocol that eliminated heavy alcohol relapse entirely among the 21 patients who completed it within the first year. The historical relapse rate in comparable populations has been approximately 25 percent.
