If things go as planned, transplantation of liver would be a reality in Kolkata within a couple of months. After Mumbai, Kolkata would be the second city in the country to facilitate transplantation in a state-run hospital at a much cheaper cost. The state health department has decided to initiate the liver transplantation from SSKM Hospital, state's premiere health care establishment. The department has started installing required infrastructure at the institute of liver diseases of the hospital to make the plan successful. Most of the required infrastructure have already been installed and the rest would be installed soon, the hospital authorities said. "We will send a doctor from the Institute of Liver Diseases to get the required training in Mumbai where liver transplantation is being performed for the past few years,' the director of Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research at SSKM Hospital, Dr PK Deb, said. The idea of initiating liver transplantation at SSKM Hospital was discussed nearly one year ago when the Institute of Liver Diseases started functioning officially. As the installation of required equipment and imparting training to the doctors is a time consuming process, the plan took more than a year to be implemented, officials said. Dr SN Bannerjee, state director of medical education, said: "Liver transplantation would soon be a reality at SSKM hospital and people would not have to go out of the state for the transplantation.' Those suffering with irreversible liver failure have no other option than to have their liver transplanted. Most transplantation are done for chronic liver diseases caused by cirrhosis, such as chronic hepatitis C, alcoholism, autoimmune hepatitis. Liver transplantation is also done for fulminant hepatic failure. Liver is generally transplanted from donors who have died of brain injury. Transplantation from the living donors is done by removing a portion of the donor's liver and replacing the entire liver of the recipient. This kind of pediatric liver transplantation was first performed in 1989.