Cleveland Clinic's Liver Transplant Program is among the most comprehensive in the world, and includes a living donor liver transplant program. Patients on our wait list receive transplants nearly twice as fast as the average expected national rate, and our one-year survival rate of 91.2 percent exceeds the national average for expected survival rate. In 2010, the program completed 133 liver transplant programs and has completed 1,500+ since the program's inception in 1984.
Cleveland Clinic's Intestinal Rehabilitation and Transplant Program is one of the few programs in the nation that offers comprehensive services, providing patients with a unique opportunity to be evaluated, supported and treated by a world-class team of medical and surgical specialists in gastrointestinal diseases, total parenteral nutrition (TPN) experts and transplant surgeons all under one roof. Cleveland Clinic is one of only 15 CMS-certified intestinal transplant programs in the nation, and one of only eight specializing in caring for adult patients.
In the United States, there are over 17,000 patients on the waiting list for a liver transplant, but only enough donated livers to perform about 6,000 transplants each year. As a result, more than 1,700 patients die each year, while on liver waiting lists.
Living donor liver transplantation offers an alternative and its main benefit is timeliness, as it decreases the risk of complications and death for patients waiting for a deceased donor liver.
In addition, it has become increasingly difficult for a foreign national patient to receive a liver transplant in the United States, due to limited deceased donor liver availability and difficulty relocating away from home for a prolonged period of time. Living donor liver transplantation allows foreign patients a more timely opportunity for transplant.
Additional Information
Read Cleveland Plain Dealer articles about our program.
- »Our Team
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Surgeons
Hepatologists
Transplant Coordinators
- Peggy George, RN, BSN, CCTC, CLNC
- Amy Daneri RN, BSN
Independent Living Liver Donor Advocate
Social Workers
- Annette Humberson, L.I.S.W.
- Catherine Gritzan, L.I.S.W.
- Steve Bodey L.I.S.W.
Psychiatrist
Ethicist
- »Recipient Indications
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All liver transplant candidates undergo evaluation, whether they are being considered for a deceased donor liver transplant or a living donor liver transplant. People who have progressive liver diseases and disorders can benefit from the timeliness of a living donor liver transplant, including those with liver tumors, bile duct tumors, cholestatic liver disease, and highly symptomatic patients with low priority for transplantation.