Lurie Children’s has the largest and most experienced pediatric liver transplant program in Illinois, delivering the strongest outcomes in the state. Our family-centered approach ensures that the entire family is involved in the patient’s treatment plan. A multidisciplinary team of specialists collaborates to provide the most comprehensive, personalized care, addressing both medical and emotional needs.
Our surgeons have pioneered transplant techniques that many surgeons now use, including the surgical techniques needed for living donor transplants. Our program is a leader in providing split liver and reduced size liver transplants, surgical techniques that allow small children to receive a liver faster by expanding the donor pool. 69% of the liver transplants in the past year at Lurie Children’s have been split or reduced size liver transplants, which is more than double the national percent of 30% of pediatric liver transplants.
Our program puts a unique emphasis on long-term follow-up care. Patients in our program can ask team members questions until they reach adulthood.
We also have a strong commitment to research dedicated to improving the health of children with severe liver disease.
Conditions We Treat
Our liver transplant surgery program is the regional referral center for biliary atresia (the most common reason why children need a liver transplant) and acute liver failure, which is a rapid loss of liver function. We are also known around the world for our work in treating childhood portal hypertension, which is a rare condition of high pressure in the portal vein, the blood vessel that brings the blood from the intestines to the liver.
Learn more about conditions that can lead to liver transplants:
What to Expect
A liver transplant is recommended when a child with serious liver disease will not be able to live without having part or all of the liver replaced. (Partial liver transplant is possible because the liver is the only organ in the body able to regenerate or rebuild itself.).
Lurie Children’s Liver Transplantation Program offers innovative treatments, including:
- Split-liver transplant: Two recipients receive parts of one donor liver.
- Reduced-size liver transplant: Part of a larger donor’s liver goes to a smaller recipient.
- Living donor liver transplant: A recipient receives part of a liver from a living person.
- Immunosuppression withdrawal: Medically stable patients may be able to reduce or eliminate the need for immune-suppressing drugs, traditionally given for a lifetime to prevent organ rejection after transplant.
The first evaluation with the liver transplant team may include:
- Physical exam and health history
- Psychosocial (mental and emotional health) assessment
- Imaging and lab tests as needed
- Financial needs assessment
- Education on liver transplant
After consulting each other, the team will decide if a liver transplant is suitable for your child. If so, we’ll provide support and education through all steps of the transplant process and beyond.
Pediatric Liver Transplant Surgeons & Doctors
Our physicians’ expertise has helped establish Lurie Children’s as a world leader in liver transplantation.
Our transplant team includes:
- Pediatric liver doctors (pediatric hepatologists)
- Pediatric transplant surgeons
- Pediatric nurse practitioners and nurses
- Social workers
- Dietitians
- Child life specialists
- Pharmacists
- Parent to parent coordinators
- Psychologists
- Transplant financial coordinators
The program’s surgical director, Riccardo Superina, MD, is a board certified surgeon who specializes in pediatric transplant surgery. He is internationally recognized for advancing pediatric surgery of the digestive system. The medical director of the program, Catherine Chapin, MD, is a board certified pediatric transplant hepatologist, with a specific research interest in pediatric acute liver failure.
Liver Transplant Specialists
Juan C. Caicedo, MD, FACS
Division Head, Transplant & Advanced Hepatobiliary Surgery; Surgical Director, Siragusa Transplantation Center
Riccardo A. Superina, MD
Surgical Director, Intestinal and Liver Transplant Programs; Robert E. Schneider and Riccardo Superina Chair in Transplantation
Catherine A. Chapin, MD, MS
Medical Director, Hepatology and Liver Transplant; Program Director, Advanced Transplant Hepatology Fellowship; Attending Physician, Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
Estella M. Alonso, MD
Medical Director, The Siragusa Transplantation Center; Sally Burnett Searle Professorship in Pediatric Transplantation
Lee M. Bass, MD
Director of Endoscopy, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Derrick A. Christopher, MD, MBA
Attending Physician, Kidney Transplantation
Batul Kaj-Carbaidwala, MD
Attending Physician, Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
Satish Nadig, MD, PhD
Attending Physician, Transplant Surgery
Professor of Surgery (Organ Transplantation), Microbiology-Immunology and Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Vinayak Rohan, MD
Attending Physician, Transplant Surgery
Associate Professor of Surgery (Organ Transplantation), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Bridget A. Whitehead, MD
Attending Physician, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Valeria C. Cohran, MD
Medical Director, Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplantation; Attending Physician, Gastroenterology
Alyssa A. Kriegermeier, MD
Attending Physician, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Nurse Coordinators
Nutritionists
Organ Procurement Coordinators
Liver Transplant Support Staff
Jesse Bonaguro, MSW, LCSW
Social Worker
Justina Hathi, PharmD
Natalia Jasiak, PharmD
Maria Robles
ParentWISE coordinator, Siragusa Transplantation Center
Agnes Szarek, PharmD
Make an Appointment
Call to make an appointment with our Liver Transplant team.
Transplant Remote Consultations & Second Opinions
Whether you anticipate your child needing an organ transplant in the future, interested in multiple listing for organ transplant, or would like a second opinion on post-transplant care, the transplant remote consultation and second opinion program can help.
Our transplant providers are available for an initial consultation to review your care, explain our transplant process, and provide second opinions of post transplant care treatment plans before deciding if traveling to Lurie Children’s would be the right choice for you.
Our Location
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
225 E. Chicago Ave.Chicago, Illinois 60611
312.227.4000
Resources & Support
Visit the following helpful and physician-recommended websites to learn more about liver transplantation:
Research
The Siragusa Transplant Center is a national pediatric research center demonstrating Lurie Children’s long-standing dedication to pediatric research. The physician-researchers on our staff have pioneered influential new methods of studying pediatric liver disease and transplantation and receive substantial funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Liver Transplantation News & Stories
Niyana Thrives After Liver Transplant, Thanks to Mom
Three-month-old Niyana faced a rare liver disease requiring a transplant and her mother became her life-saving donor. Read their powerful story of sacrifice and the expert care at Lurie Children's that gave Niyana a healthy future.
Sawyer’s Fighting Chance: His Own Father
Newborn baby Sawyer battled a life-threatening liver condition for months until the most perfect donor was found and turned everything around: his own dad.
Haytham Doing Better Than Ever Following Liver Transplant From Altruistic Donor
Two-year-old Haytham had already overcome many challenges in his young life and needed a liver transplant. One altruistic stranger was a match.
More than five years since their transplant, 'liver sisters' are thriving
Neither Ava’s mom, Michelle, nor Kendall say they will forget the day they heard a liver became available for both patients – from the same donor.
Twenty-five Years After Its First Liver Transplant, Lurie Children’s Transplant Program Soars
Lurie Children’s has grown to have one of the largest and most experienced pediatric liver transplant teams in the U.S.
Expertise in the Care of Portal Vein Thrombosis
At Lurie Children’s, our liver experts are able to help many children with portal vein thrombosis avoid a liver transplant. Hear from those experts, Drs. Riccardo Superina and Caroline Lemoine.