Updates

Liver Transplant Program

 Conditions We Treat

Though many diseases affect the liver, only the most serious liver diseases are treated with a transplant. Our evaluation process will help to decide whether your child's disease requires a liver transplant.  

Conditions

  • Biliary atresia 
  • Autoimmune hepatitis/sclerosing hepatitis/overlap syndrome 

Causing chronic liver injury/failure:  

  • Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency 
  • Familial cholestatic syndromes (e.g., PFIC1 2 or 3) 
  • Allagille syndrome 
  • Cystic fibrosis liver disease 
  • Tyrosinemia 
  • Crigler–Najjar syndrome 
  • Glycogen storage disease 
  • Hyperoxaluria 
  • MSUD 
  • OTC deficiency 
  • Urea cycle disorders 
  • Autoimmune hepatitis 
  • Genetic/metabolic diseases: Wilson’s disease, fatty acid oxidation defects, some mitochondrial disorders 
  • Hepatic drug toxicity (e.g., acetaminophen, NSAIDs, many others) 
  • Indeterminate (non-A, non-B, non-C hepatitis) 
  • Neonatal Hemochromatosis 
  • Viral hepatitis 
  • Embryonal sarcoma 
  • Hemangioendothelioma 
  • Hepatoblastoma 
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma 

Types of liver transplant 

Our team at Texas Children’s performs four types of liver transplant procedures, including living donor, reduced-liver, split-liver and whole organ transplants.  

Living-related donor transplant 

In living-related donor transplantation, a portion of an adult relative’s liver is removed and given to a child recipient. This type of transplantation virtually eliminates delays for a transplant because the child doesn’t have to wait for a donor organ. 

Reduced-liver transplant 

A reduced-size liver transplant is when the donor liver is surgically sized to fit the recipient's size. This type of liver transplant is often used in pediatric recipients. The segments most commonly used are left lateral segments and left lobe. Reduced-liver transplants were first performed in 1984. With this technique, surgeons take a portion of a donor’s liver and place it in a child. Children have better chances of receiving livers because reduced-liver transplants can compensate for dramatic differences in patient and donor weight differences. 

Split-liver transplants 

In-situ splitting of the liver — dividing a donor’s liver while it still is in the donor’s body with the blood flowing to it — has emerged as the procedure with the greatest potential to increase the number of available livers. This method doubles the number of recipients who can receive transplants from a single liver. 

Whole-liver transplant 

The first liver transplants, performed more than 50 years ago, were whole-liver transplants. As the name implies, this type of transplant requires the procurement of a whole, healthy donor liver. However, the shortage of whole pediatric livers forced transplant surgeons to develop more innovative methods of transplantation, such as split-liver, living-related and reduced liver transplants described above.