Pediatric Liver Transplant Program

More transplant options for safer care

When your child needs a liver transplant, every option matters. Our team evaluates living and deceased donor livers, whole livers and partial grafts. We use these options to help your child receive the right liver as quickly and safely as possible.

Advanced techniques reduce waitlist times

Our team provides close, expert care while your child waits for a liver. We care for children with complex liver conditions, including biliary atresia, genetic liver diseases, liver tumors and liver failure.

Our expertise in leading-edge transplantation techniques enables us to expand the pool of livers for pediatric patients, reducing wait times. We helped pioneer techniques that make liver transplantation safer and expand donor options.

Our advanced expertise includes:

• Living donor liver transplants. This option can help some children receive a liver sooner.

• Split liver transplantation techniques. Our surgeons can split a deceased donor liver to help two recipients (a child and an adult).

• Experience with challenging grafts. We have expertise in using technically challenging grafts (the part of the liver that is transplanted). We can work with uniquely shaped donor livers, expanding the pool of usable organs.

• Use of liver perfusion devices. Specialized equipment preserves organs during transport, enabling us to use organs from farther away.

Multispecialty, family-centered care

Our core transplant medical team meets several times each week to review our pre- and post-transplant patients. This collaboration ensures consistency, shared knowledge and close attention in your child's care.

Your child's team may include:

• Hepatologists

• Transplant surgeons

• Gastroenterologists

• Infectious disease specialists

• Anesthesiologists

• Pharmacists

• Nurses

• Transplant psychologists

• Child life specialists, patient care navigators, social workers and other support staff

Children with liver tumors or hepatoblastoma receive coordinated care from transplant, liver and cancer specialists.

The entire team focuses on compassionate, family-centered care. Your nurse navigator guides you through the process, and we communicate with you at every step so you are informed and confident in your child's care.

Post-transplant care

Care after transplant is critical to your child's long-term health and quality of life. We monitor liver function and your child's growth and development throughout childhood and into early adulthood.

Our team routinely looks for safe ways to reduce immunosuppressant medications after transplant. We balance this approach with careful monitoring to protect your child's new liver. Through research, we continue studying ways to minimize or even eliminate these medications for some children.