10 Years of Live Transplants with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Over 80 liver transplants and counting for CSC patients and the talented team at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh led by Dr. George Mazariegos!

2014 marks the Clinic’s 25th Anniversary, but it also marks 10 years of hope for patients with Maple Syrup Urine Disease and Crigler-Najjar Syndrome. Like many great scientific discoveries, this story begins by chance. An early MSUD patient needed a new liver as a result of vitamin A toxicity. Our doctors hypothesized that a new liver could also help correct MSUD’s unique metabolic problem, but this was only an educated guess. Not only did the liver transplant save this patient’s life, the transplant effectively cured her MSUD. Overnight, she was freed from daily medical formula, a low protein diet, and frequent blood tests.

Another surprising twist to the story is that many MSUD patients are able to donate their liver to the much needed pool in what is known as a “Domino Transplant.”

In essence, our MSUD patients are given a new lease on life while also saving another in the process.

We continue to search for new ways to use liver transplants as a therapeutic tool for our community’s children. The next 10 years of collaboration hold great promise for patient care and scientific discovery. Many thanks to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and to the many families who came to celebrate this week!