Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has Best Pediatric Liver Transplant Survival Rates in the Country

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has the best one- and three-year post-transplant patient and graft survival rates in the nation for pediatric liver transplants, according to newly released 2025 data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) and the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN).

CHLA was also among the top centers in the U.S. in the volume of pediatric liver transplants and was tied for the highest number of transplants in California and the Western United States, performing 29 of these procedures in 2024.

"Less than a handful of other programs in the United States have performed as many transplants in children, and we certainly are very proud of this accomplishment,” says Kambiz Etesami, MD, FACS, Director of Abdominal Organ Transplantation, and Surgical Director of Liver Transplant at CHLA. “More importantly, our volume of cases over the years is bolstered by leading outcomes for our patients in the nation. Our extensive experience translates directly into patient care. It is a testament to our entire multidisciplinary team, which works closely together to ensure the best results for each patient.”

According to the new data, CHLA’s pediatric liver transplant patients had a:

• 100% one-year survival rate, compared with 95.3% nationally (July 1, 2021-Dec. 31, 2023)
• 100% three-year survival rate, compared with 92.7% nationally (Jan. 1, 2019-June 30, 2021)

CHLA’s excellent survival rates come even though the team treats the most complex and difficult cases.

“We are proud of our program’s consistent growth and stellar results for our patients over the years,” says Beth Carter, MD, Section Chief, Hepatology, and Medical Director for the Liver Transplant Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

A leader in living donor transplants

CHLA is also seventh in the nation in living donor transplant volumes. Since the program began in 1998, nearly one-third of pediatric liver transplants performed at CHLA have come from living donors—compared to 11.5% nationally. The hospital’s living donor program also leads the nation in patient and graft survival.

In a living donor transplant, a patient receives a small part of a liver from a relative or a genetically matched stranger. The donor’s liver regrows to its previous capacity within six to 12 weeks. The new section of the liver grows as the child does.

Receiving a liver from a living donor can shorten the wait for a transplant and often has better outcomes than a liver transplant from a deceased donor. Because the organ is out of the body for a shorter time, there is less likelihood of damage, which can reduce the chance of immune rejection in the recipient. This can increase the long-term success of the transplant. “Our team’s expertise in living donor transplants is a major reason why CHLA’s median wait time for a child to receive a liver transplant is approximately 75 days—compared with 13 months nationally,” says Dr. Carter.

New research and innovation

CHLA’s highly skilled transplant team specializes in all types of liver transplants, including split or segmental liver transplants, which are performed when a liver from a deceased donor would otherwise be too large for a child. In addition, surgeons perform multiple organ transplants—such as combined heart-liver and liver-kidney transplants—as well as transfusion-free (bloodless) liver transplants where appropriate. The Liver Transplant Program is backed by a strong research effort aimed at improving the future of liver transplant care.

“We continue to develop innovations, such as an artificial intelligence tool that can determine which children with acute liver failure may need an urgent transplant,” Dr. Carter says. “We are also creating new methods such as a liquid biopsy to predict rejection in liver tissue that can improve long-term patient outcomes and reduce tissue biopsies in children whenever possible. Our goal is to help each child’s liver last a lifetime.”