Specialties & Services

Liver Transplant

Our specialists have performed over 3,000 liver transplants, helping restore patients’ liver function and health. This experience allows us to care for patients with complex liver conditions, such as end-stage liver disease and liver cancer. Together, we work to give you a longer, more comfortable life.

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Why choose us for liver transplant?

WashU Medicine physicians deliver national leading transplant care at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital. Patients from across the U.S. come to us seeking our liver transplantation expertise. With a long-standing history of excellence, our liver transplant program is one of the most experienced in the world.

We offer transplant surgery to patients with complex liver conditions often denied by other transplant centers.

When you come to us for a liver transplant, you can expect:

An experienced team: Our transplant specialists, including hepatologists (liver specialists), surgeons, and clinical nurse specialists, are highly experienced in treating patients who need a liver transplant. We provide comprehensive patient care before, during, and after a liver transplant.
High volume: Our team has successfully performed more than 3,000 liver transplants. This high number means we deeply understand the unique needs of patients with all types of liver disease. Our experience ensures you receive the comprehensive, responsive, and personalized care you need.
Leading therapies: We offer patients access to clinical trials available at WashU Medicine. Clinical trials are research studies that test promising new therapies and innovative treatments before they are available to the public.
Convenient care: We offer outreach clinics for patients outside the St. Louis metro area. At the clinics, our doctors provide initial appointments and follow-up care for patients with liver failure. We also offer consultation to patients and referring physicians.
Transplantation for liver cancer: Our team successfully manages advanced cases other centers consider too complex for liver transplantation. We are the region's only center providing liver transplants for eligible patients with certain liver and bile duct cancers.
Multi-organ transplantation: Our transplant specialists can successfully treat patients needing multi-organ transplants such as liver-kidney and liver-heart.
Patient and family support: You and your loved ones can access education, support groups, one-on-one psychological counseling, and our Transplant Mentor Program. In this program, someone who has already had a transplant provides you with information, guidance, and emotional support.

What is liver transplant?

A liver transplant is surgery to replace a diseased liver with a healthy liver from another person. A whole liver may be transplanted. Or part of a liver may be transplanted from another person.

In most cases, the healthy liver will come from an organ donor who has just died (a deceased donor).

Sometimes a healthy living person will donate part of their liver. A living donor may be a family member. Or it may be someone who isn't related to you but whose blood type is a good match.

People who donate part of their liver can lead healthy lives with the liver that is left.

The liver is the only organ in the body that can replace lost or injured tissue (regenerate). In fact, the donor’s liver will soon grow back to normal size after surgery. And the part that you receive as a new liver will also grow to normal size in a few months.

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Our highly trained team of specialists offers advanced treatments as well as compassionate, personalized care.

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Liver transplant testing and treatments

When standard therapies are no longer working to manage end-stage liver disease, it may be time to consider a liver transplant. Our liver transplant team listens to your concerns and helps you decide which transplant option is best for you.

We offer several liver transplant options:

Conventional liver transplant

During this procedure, we replace your diseased liver with a healthy liver from a deceased donor.

Split liver transplant

Surgeons split a single liver from a deceased donor into two portions. You receive one portion of the liver, and a second recipient gets the other.

Living donor liver transplant

Living donor transplantation is a procedure in which a living person gives you a portion of their liver. Finding a living liver donor can shorten your wait time.

Multi-organ transplant

You may need several organs replaced during one surgery. We offer multi-organ transplants such as liver-kidney and liver-heart.

Liver cancer transplant

This transplantation removes the whole liver to cure liver cancer. We remove the diseased liver and replace it with a healthy one from a living or deceased donor.