Saving Reagan: The power of split liver transplants

Every year dozens of infants and young children in need of a liver transplant die on the organ donation wait list because a donor organ small enough for their body didn’t become available in time. But there is hope—a surgical technique that lets surgeons split donor livers into two unequally sized segments, a small one for infants and a larger one for older patients. If the process were adopted more widely it could save many of these children, just as it saved Reagan. An uncertain beginning A young Reagan and Dr. Kim When Reagan Devlin was born in 2004, her parents Teresa and Bryan were overjoyed. But that joy quickly turned to concern when nurses noticed her dark complexion and irregular heartbeat. The family was transferred to a nearby pediatric hospital in their home state of Florida, where the skin around Reagan’s lower abdomen started to turn greenish in color, leading doctors to believe she had a rare liver disorder called patent ductus venosus. Because the condition is seen so rarely only a few medical centers have any experience in treating it, but doctors from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Vascular Anomalies Center are considered world experts in these types of diseases. Within 48 hours, the Devlins were boarding a flight to Boston. But just a few hours after meeting their new care team at Boston Children’s, the Devlins received yet another shock: the disease Reagan had traveled hundreds of miles to receive care for wasn’t to bl...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: All posts Children's in the news Diseases & conditions Our patients’ stories Heung Bae Kim liver failure Liver transplant our patients' stories Pediatric Transplant Center (PTC) Source Type: news