How the Liver Transplant Program Is Raising the Bar
In 1984, Jefferson became the first hospital in the Delaware Valley to perform liver transplantation. Since then, the Liver Transplant Program has continued to provide exceptional care and outstanding outcomes. Patients and their families benefit from the depth and breadth of our experience, as well as our commitment to continually enhancing our capabilities:
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Jefferson transplants the sickest patients – and still achieves the best outcomes. Jefferson's outcomes for liver transplantation exceed expectations for both patient and organ survival. And we achieve those outcomes even though we transplant patients with higher-than-average MELD scores in Region 2 and in the nation. In other words, our outcomes aren't great because we transplant only the "strongest" candidates. We take on tough patients – and still achieve the lowest mortality rates for our region's Organ Procurement Organization (OPO).
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Jefferson transplants a high volume of patients. From 2006 to 2008, Jefferson had the highest rate of transplanted livers in our region's OPO. We have transplanted about 70 percent of our listed patients, while other hospitals transplanted between 25 and 30 percent of their listed patients. That means that Jefferson is listing only those patients who truly need liver transplantation – and that our transplant patients receive a high degree of attention and follow-up.
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Jefferson performs a range of procedures for people with liver disease. Our surgeons perform robotic liver resections for people with benign or malignant liver masses. For some people, resection is a viable alternative to transplant. In addition, our surgeons helped to pioneer techniques for bloodless liver resection – helping to avoid the costs and risks associated with blood transfusion. Using innovative tools and techniques, our surgeons can now remove up to 75 percent of a liver mass without using blood transfusions.
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Jefferson was the first to use an artificial liver assist device. In 2010, Jefferson's Cataldo Doria, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Transplantation, became the first surgeon in the United States to use a new totally artificial liver assist device as a bridge to transplantation. The artificial liver assist device was successfully used on a patient diagnosed with acute liver failure (also called fulminant hepatic failure) requiring a transplant. It was needed to keep the patient alive until a donor organ could be located.
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In short, Jefferson can treat any type of liver disease in children or adults. Our partnership with Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children enables us to provide our services to children in need of a transplant. Our multidisciplinary team of physicians and other clinicians offers comprehensive diagnosis and treatment – including medical as well as surgical options.