Liver Transplant in Children and Teenagers: A Team Approach to Life-saving Care

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has one of the largest pediatric liver transplant centers and one of the most experienced liver transplant teams in the country. www.chop.edu/li...
The liver is an integral organ that rids the body of its toxic biproducts. When a child is in liver failure, these biproducts build up and can have a very negative effect on health. Liver transplant is a complex procedure and can be a stressful process but it can restore a child’s health. Thirty or 40 years ago, these children would have died from liver failure, but today we can do a liver transplant and give children a normal quality of life.
The Liver Transplant Program at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia does around 20 pediatric liver transplants a year for children suffering from a host of conditions, including biliary atresia. Our team has been working together for years. In addition to liver transplant, surgeons at Children’s Hospital are extremely skilled in performing the Kasai procedure to delay the need for transplant and in transplanting even the most complex cases, including very sick children and newborns whose tiny bodies require the utmost precision. We meet families at one of the worst times in their lives and support them throughout the transplant process.