MEDICAID NOTICE: Lurie Children’s continues to serve all patients enrolled in Medicaid. As a safety-net hospital, we will continue providing high-quality care to every child who needs us.

Deceased-Donor Liver Transplant

When living-donor liver transplant is not an option, deceased donor liver transplant may be the best option. The process for deceased-donor transplantation at Lurie Children’s is as follows. 

  • A donor is identified by the hospital staff at the donor hospital. 
  • The local Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) is notified, and an OPO representative is sent to the donor hospital to evaluate the donor. 
  • Once the donor has been evaluated and deemed transplantable, the donor family is approached for education and consent. 
  • If consent is obtained a match run list is given by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). The match run list is an organ-specific ranking list that shows the patient’s name and what center they belong to. This is the organ allocation list; each organ has its own allocation system as well. This process will be discussed at length during your evaluation by the procurement coordinators. 
  • The OPO begins making organ offers at the top of the list by notifying the centers. Each center has a designated 24-hour call person to take the offer. A surgeon will make the ultimate decision to accept or decline an offer. 
  • If the organ is accepted, the organ procurement coordinators will notify the families and hospital staff. The procurement coordinators will accompany a surgeon and assist with organ procurement. 
  • Upon returning to Lurie Children’s, the organ procurement coordinators will be a means of communication between the operating room and the recipient family.