The Lehigh Valley Health Network is making a major addition to its services to Health Network, which is now part of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health.
Liver Transplant Services are being added to LVHN's existing kidney and pancreatic transplant programs.
LVHN said it has recruited the best surgeons, transplant liver specialists and gastroenterologists to lead new programs including surgeon George Lofaiel, Maryland, Chief, surgical transplants and hepatologist Shahid Malik, MD, Medical Director, LVPG transplant surgery.
The first program of this type in the region will provide implantation to patients with end-stage liver disease, acute liver failure, and liver tumors.
The program is enhanced by Jefferson's resources, including access to the tools and services needed and cross-training with Jefferson's liver transplant specialists.
“This is a huge development for Lehigh Valley. It requires large organizations to build and maintain a liver transplant program, and support from Jefferson has made this possible,” said Dr. Michael Pasquale, the lead physician at the Lehigh Valley Institute at Jefferson Health Perioperative Services. “This population requires dedicated liver transplant services. The existing transplant programme has doubled in the last year and continues to expand. We are offering more services and transplanting more patients, so they have the opportunity to continue to thrive.”
The liver transplant program has been in development for nearly 10 years. This program uses the liver of a deceased donor. This accounts for 85-90% of liver donations nationwide. According to Rofaiel, the team will not perform liver transplants from live donors at this time.
The patient is considered a liver transplant after referral from a liver specialist or through self-referencing. Additionally, if the situation requires an emergency assessment, it may be accepted through your local emergency department or hospital.
LVHN said one of the challenges of liver transplantation is the availability of healthy liver and keeping them long enough to make them useful.
“The number of patients diagnosed with liver disease continues to increase, but the number of donors is flat-riding,” Malik said. “We are also selective. If we get healthy, we're competing against time because our liver is only present for six to 12 hours.”
LVHN is preparing to add normal temperature perfusion (NMP) as a tool for pre-implanting liver. NMP, or “liver pump,” refers to the technique of preserving organs during the implantation process, involving circulating perfusion that mimics blood flow. This technique can extend the lifespan of the liver by more times. This means that the program can accept liver from afar and increase the donor pool.
