The transplant connection
GASTROENTEROLOGY & GI SURGERY •
CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
The Liver Transplant Program at Children’s Colorado boasts one
of the lowest median wait times for liver transplantation in the
nation, at half the national average. That’s in part thanks to our
partnership with neighboring UCHealth, and a strong emphasis on
connecting non-directed donations with the kids who need them.
transporter proteins. More experiments showed
that these pathways could be activated to make
more bile transporters by using new drugs coming
out on the market. “Our live and non-directed liver donor program allows us to
transplant patients earlier,” says pediatric hepatologist Shikha
Sundaram, MD, MSCI, Medical Director of the Liver Transplant
Program at Children’s Colorado. “Which means they spend less
time waiting and more time playing.”
A path forward Children’s Colorado liver transplant volumes
“If we can prove efficacy of one of these drugs in
preventing PNAC, it will dramatically alter the
course of treatment for these infants and children,
allowing them to receive enough IV lipids while
preventing the need for multivisceral transplants,”
Dr. Sokol says. “This isn’t a cure, but it certainly is a
game-changer.” ●
17 15
2017 2018 through 11/2018
Children’s Colorado liver transplant patient survival for
patients transplanted during the calendar year noted
94%
100%
Since their successful modeling, Dr. Sokol and
team have narrowed in on potential targets
— hepatic macrophages, IL-1β, or NF-κβ — for
unsticking bile and sterol transport as novel
ways to treat PNAC. Their latest research
with the complete hypothetical model of
PNAC pathogenesis was published in Nature
Communications last year.
Pediatric liver transplants
Non-directed living donors
Directed living donors
Deceased donors
17
Children’s
Colorado 6% 11%
TOTAL
599
11.2%
National
TOTAL
0.8%
Children’s
Colorado
National
20%
27%
11.3%
15
TOTAL
486
TOTAL
0.6%
2.1 months
Children’s Colorado’s median liver transplant wait time, compared
to the median national wait time of 4.1 months for programs
that perform 10 or more pediatric liver transplants per year.
28
Based on Organ Procurement and Transplant Network data as of
NEW CONSTELLATIONS
29
November 20, 2018.