The Pediatric Liver Transplant program at Yale New Haven Transplantation Center is the only transplant center offering pediatric liver transplantation in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and southern Massachusetts. We are known nationally and internationally for our success in treating the full spectrum of liver problems in children. Our team has a combined experience of more than three decades, and our outcomes, both in terms of complication rates and long-term survival, are among the best in the nation. We are committed to a family-centered care philosophy in which we partner with the whole family to treat the child, not just the disease.

We provide expert, compassionate inpatient and outpatient care for children with a variety of gastrointestinal, liver, and metabolic disorders including inflammatory bowel disease, esophageal disorders, diarrheal disease, acute and chronic liver disease, and metabolic liver diseases, including lysosomal diseases. Our care team harnesses the expertise of gastrointestinal nursing, nutrition, radiology, surgery and genetics experts, as well as Yale’s programs in inflammatory bowel disease and liver transplantation. Our multidisciplinary approach for our patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease also includes a clinical psychologist, a dietician, and an endocrinologist.The program also offers selective shunts for patients with noncirrhotic portal hypertension. Gastrointestinal conditions we often manage include: Abdominal Pain Celiac disease Constipation/Encopresis Eosinophilic esophagitis/allergic bowel disease Failure to thrive Feeding problems/swallowing problems Helicobacter pylori infection Hirschsprung’s disease Lactose intolerance Malabsorption Pancreatitis Peptic ulcer disease Vomiting Our pediatric hepatologists treat a range of liver diseases. Some can be managed with medication, while others require surgery. For example,acute liver failure(ALF) occurs when many of the cells in the liver die or become very damaged in a short period of time. ALF has many causes, such as metabolic conditions or toxicity from incorrect dosages of acetaminophen.ALF can sometimes be treated with medication, if it is identified early, but about half of all children who develop ALF require a liver transplant. Biliary atresiais a disease of the liver and bile ducts that occurs in infants. In children with biliary atresia, bile—a liquid that helps the body digest fat—cannot properly drain from the liver. This damages liver cells and can lead to liver failure. Surgical procedures can correct bile flow problems, but the liver disease progresses and requires specialized care to improve growth, development, nutrition, and long-term outcome.A multidisciplinary team consisting of pediatric liver specialists, surgeons, and a dietician provides comprehensive care for patients with biliary atresia. Other hepatology conditions we treat include: Alagille syndrome Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency Autoimmune hepatitis Neonatal cholestasis Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis (PFIC) Urea cycle defects Wilson's disease Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Glycogen Storage Disease Viral hepatitis Hepatoblastoma Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Our multidisciplinary group of physicians and health providers are committed to providing state-of-the-art therapy to our patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections. We have a 50-year tradition of excellence in liver research and patient care, and continue to be international leaders on the study and treatment of liver disorders. As a partner of the Yale School of Medicine Liver Center, one of only four liver research centers in the country sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, ours is the premier program in Connecticut offering comprehensive patient care for individuals with viral hepatitis. The key to effective disease management of acute and chronic viral hepatitis is our coordinated care among specially trained physicians, as well as a specialized nurse who provides teaching and psychological support. We enjoy close relationships with specialists in adult and pediatric gastroenterology, transplant hepatology, medical and transplant nephrology, transplant surgery, gastrointestinal pathology, diagnostic and interventional radiology, gastrointestinal surgery, rheumatology, OB/GYN, medical and surgical oncology, infectious diseases, the AIDS Care Program, psychiatry, and addiction medicine. The Gastrointestinal Pathology program at Yale is the only subspecialty program of its kind in Connecticut, and provides expert consultative services for the most challenging liver pathology examinations in the region. We partner with Yale New Haven Hospital’s Nathan Smith Clinic in the management of patients with HBV/HIV and HCV/HIV co-infections, and with the Yale Liver Transplant Program in the pre- and post-transplant evaluation and management of patients with liver cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. We have four areas aimed at improving treatment and outcomes for viral hepatitis: Education: Providing formal education classes and individualized instruction sessions for patients with chronic hepatitis C infection prior to the initiation of antiviral therapy Treatment: Maintaining high standards of practice in treatment protocols and close coordination of care with referring physicians to provide the most advanced and scientifically based approaches to the management of viral hepatitis Research: Ensuring the opportunity for patient access to novel approaches in the treatment of viral hepatitis and liver disorders through clinical trials Community outreach: Building relationships with the surrounding communities of Greater New Haven and Connecticut to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, and to promote screening and education Special services offered by the Yale Viral Hepatitis Program include: Weekly multidisciplinary patient care conferences and liver pathology conferences to draw upon the varied expertise of our Yale Medicine physicians Coordination with the liver and kidney transplant programs Comprehensive services for diagnostic and interventional GI endoscopy, percutaneous and trans-jugular liver biopsy, paracentesis and trans