Paradigm Shift: How Living Donors are Revolutionizing the Field of Pediatric Liver Transplant

Hundreds of children with chronic liver disease or acute liver failure are listed for liver transplants nationwide each year. But children often spend months (or even years) waiting for an organ, and sadly some pass away while on a waiting list.

Historically, deceased donations have been the most common source of organ transplants, but the emergence of living donors are disrupting the decades-old paradigm of pediatric liver transplant care –– helping patients bypass long and uncertain wait times.

Listen to pediatric experts discuss living donor liver transplants

In this episode, Amy Feldman, MD, and Megan Adams, MD, join us from the Liver Transplant Program at Children's Hospital Colorado to share more about this life-saving organ donation option.

Dr. Feldman is a pediatric gastroenterologist and Director of the Liver Transplant program at Children’s Colorado.

Dr. Adams is the Surgical Director of Pediatric Living Donor Transplantation and Pediatric Transplant Clinical Research at Children’s Colorado.

For more information on living donor transplants at Children’s Colorado and pioneering pediatric research by Dr. Adams with Dor Yoeli, MD, read “Optimizing Pediatric Liver Transplant Outcomes with Living Donors” in our November 2022 issue of Q: Magazine.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

• The process for listing a patient for a liver transplant
• The PELD Score for determining liver cirrhosis severity and transplant planning
• Performing a living donor transplant surgery
• Donor post-surgery recovery time and liver regeneration
• Patient eligibility for living liver donation
• Long-term outcomes of living donor transplant vs. deceased donor transplant

Pediatric Transplant Program at Children’s Colorado

Our transplant program has been changing lives for 25 years. We have the only pediatric transplant program in the region with this magnitude of experience and expertise. Our unique multidisciplinary team approach to care offers patients excellent outcomes and hope for a better, healthier life.