MELD Score: What It Is, How It’s Used, and Why It Matters for Liver Disease

When your liver isn’t working right, doctors need a clear way to measure how badly it’s failing. That’s where the MELD score, a numerical scale used to assess the severity of chronic liver disease and predict short-term survival. Also known as the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, it helps doctors decide who needs a transplant most urgently. Unlike older systems, the MELD score doesn’t rely on how a patient feels—it uses hard numbers from blood tests that show how well the liver is actually functioning.

The MELD score is built from three lab values: bilirubin (which measures liver’s ability to process waste), creatinine (which reflects kidney function—often affected by advanced liver disease), and INR (a blood clotting test that shows how well the liver makes proteins). These numbers are plugged into a formula that spits out a score between 6 and 40+. A higher score means more severe disease and a higher risk of dying within the next three months without a transplant. It’s not perfect, but it’s the standard used by transplant centers across the U.S. and Europe to fairly rank patients waiting for a liver. If you or someone you know has cirrhosis, hepatitis, or alcoholic liver disease, this score likely plays a big role in their care plan.

It’s also tied to other tools like the Child-Pugh score, an older system that adds clinical symptoms like ascites and encephalopathy to lab results. While Child-Pugh is still used for general staging, MELD has taken over for transplant prioritization because it’s more objective. Doctors also use MELD to track how a patient’s condition changes over time—if the score climbs, it means the liver is getting worse. If it drops after treatment, it might mean the therapy is working. Some patients with liver cancer get extra points added to their MELD score, called MELD-Na, to account for low sodium levels, which can be a hidden sign of advanced disease.

What you won’t find in the MELD score is age, gender, or how much someone drinks. That’s intentional—it removes bias and focuses purely on medical urgency. But it also means two people with the same score might have very different lifestyles or causes of disease. The score doesn’t tell you why the liver failed, just how badly. That’s why it’s always used alongside other tests, imaging, and clinical judgment.

In the posts below, you’ll find real-world stories and guides that connect directly to the MELD score and the conditions that drive it. From how liver disease affects daily life, to what happens when a transplant is approved, to how medications like those used for hepatitis or cirrhosis can change a patient’s trajectory—each article gives you a clearer picture of what the numbers really mean. Whether you’re a patient, caregiver, or just trying to understand how transplant systems work, these resources cut through the jargon and show you what matters.