Our Approach to Pediatric Liver Transplantation
One of the largest and most successful liver transplant programs in the Northeast, the Pediatric Liver Transplantation Program at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein (CHAM) is an internationally recognized leader in the field of pediatric liver transplantation delivering state-of-the-art life-saving care to infants and children with end-stage liver disease, acute liver failure, biliary atresia, liver cancer, and genetic and metabolic liver diseases. Our survival rates are among the best in the nation with 100% survival of pediatric live donor liver transplants. We're ranked in the top 1% of all hospitals in the nation for pediatric gastroenterology and GI surgery, and among the best children’s hospitals in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report, and are an international referral site for the most complex pediatric liver transplant cases.
Our expertise in complex pediatric liver disease includes transplantation in infants less than one year old and combined organ transplantation, with 100% one-year survival of pediatric Kidney-Liver transplant recipients. We were among the first in the Northeast to use advanced Molecular Absorbent Recirculating System (MARS) liver dialysis technology and are today still one of the few hospitals in the Northeast using it. We provide expanded criteria for donors with medical complexities, split and domino liver transplantation, paired donor exchange for live organ donation, and innovative desensitization programs for patients with high antibody levels and incompatible blood types. As part of a special network of the best pediatric transplant centers in the United States and Canada, called the Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplant (SPLIT), we are committed to using research to improve outcomes for pediatric liver transplant patients.
Our elite multi-disciplinary team of pediatric transplant experts includes pediatric liver transplant surgeons fellowship-trained in advanced liver transplantation techniques, transplant hepatologists, medical and surgical oncologists, gastroenterologists, transplant immunologists, transplant anesthesiologists, radiologists, pathologists, infectious disease specialists, critical care specialists, psychiatrists, nutritionists, and dedicated transplant coordinators.
Among the Best Pediatric Liver Transplant Survival Rates in the Nation
Our pediatric liver transplant outcome results are among the best in the nation with 100% three-year survival of pediatric live donor liver transplant recipients. We specialize in combined organ transplant procedures with 100% one-year survival of pediatric Kidney-Liver transplant recipients. Our multidisciplinary team of specialists offer unmatched expertise in the medical management of liver failure in children and we are number one in New York State with the highest survival on the liver transplant waitlist.
How We Minimize Wait Times
The wait time for liver transplants can be very long, which we strive to minimize through advanced techniques that widen the potential organ donor pool. These include splitting livers for two recipients, live donor transplants, and the use of normothermic preservation technology to improve the function of donor organs. We use the appeal process to make sure the patient has the best chance of receiving an organ sooner through the UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) network.
Advanced Diagnostics & Surgical Techniques
Our world-renowned specialists use advanced pre- and post-transplant diagnostics for evaluation of donor livers and recipients including the latest diagnostic imaging technologies such as ultrasonography (US), cholangiography, computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), MR-angiography, scintigraphy, and hepatobiliary imaging and procedures via interventional radiology. Liver biopsy as well as biomarkers and analytes are also used to optimize the diagnosis of rejection after liver transplantation.
Our pediatric transplant experts utilize the most advanced surgical approaches available today, including minimally invasive and robotically-assisted surgery for faster recovery. Our continued work in the development of newly-emerging techniques and technologies allows us to provide the latest leading-edge surgical techniques. We performed the first double organ, lung-liver, adult transplant in New York State, and remain one of a few centers in the nation to perform complex multi-organ liver transplantation with simultaneous lung or heart failure. We were the first transplant center to safely transplant a liver infected with hepatitis C virus into an uninfected patient which has now become standard national practice.
We offer split and domino liver transplantation, paired donor exchange for live organ donation, and innovative desensitization programs for patients with high antibody levels and incompatible blood types.
Our expertise in managing complex pediatric liver cases includes liver transplantation in infants less than one year old. We were the first in the Northeast to utilize an artificial liver support system, molecular adsorbent recirculating system (MARS) albumin blood filtration, as a bridge to transplant or recovery for children with acute liver failure, and are today still one of the few hospitals in the Northeast using it.
To ensure successful transplantation, we optimize graft survival with advanced immunosuppressive therapies and novel immune tolerance protocols. These include tissue biopsy and immunological tests to help optimize immunosuppressive therapy.
A National Leader in Living Donor Transplantation
Our robust living donor program offers a way for individuals to get a lifesaving transplant sooner. Family, friends and anonymous altruistic living donors participate in the program, reducing the wait time for transplantation in matched recipients. Live donor transplant success rates have been shown to be better than deceased donor transplant success rates. We are among the best in the nation with three-year liver transplant survival rates of 100% for both pediatric and adult recipients of live donor liver transplants.
For our patients in need of a liver or kidney transplant, we created the first-of-its-kind revolutionary I Want to Live Digital Tool which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and video to tell their story of why they want to live. This proprietary tool offers a completely novel and unique approach to helping those who need a transplant overcome the hurdle of asking for help and reaching potential donors.
See stories of some of our patients in need of a life-saving liver or kidney
Navigating the Transplant Process
The Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation provides a number of resources to help, educate and support you and your family through the entire transplant process, including a dedicated transplant coordinator to help you navigate each step of your journey before, during and after surgery.
Our Helping Hands Program, a resource network of doctors, nurses, nutritionists, social workers and administrators, helps people navigate and better manage their health and lives as they go through the transplantation process, and complements state-of-the-art medicine with holistic approaches to improve quality of life for patients, families, and caregivers.
Research & Clinical Trials
The Marion Bessin Liver Research Center at Montefiore Einstein is one of the longest running NIH-funded liver research centers in the nation. Our world-renowned physician-scientists and scientists are working to develop new treatments derived from stem cells for liver diseases, including liver cancer, researching a human-cell–based artificial liver system that could prolong survival for patients waiting to receive a liver transplant, and studying how tumor cells circulate through the bloodstream to become new tumors, research that could benefit patients with cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. We are spearheading clinical trials for people with chronic liver diseases and studying the preservation of deceased donor livers with normothermic machine perfusion.
Your Pediatric Liver Transplant Team
Dominique M. Jan, MD, PhD
Milan M. Kinkhabwala, MD
Debra H. Pan, MD
Schedule a Visit
Have a general question or concern? We’re available to help you by phone or by email. 718-741-2332 transplant@montefiore.org