Jean C. Emond, MD Vice Chair and Chief of Transplantation Columbia University Department of Surgery

Robert S. Brown, Jr., MD, MPH Director, Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation Chief, Division of Abdominal Organ Transplantation

The Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation (CLDT) offers adults and children with liver disease the seamless integration of medical, surgical and radiologic expertise. We have a legacy of close collaboration among clinical specialists, including hepatologists, gastroenterologists, hepatobiliary surgeons, diagnostic and pathology experts, advanced-care nurses, social workers, and patient support staff affiliated with the program.

Facts about the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation

Founded in 1998, the Center for Liver Disease and Tranplantation is one of the first liver programs built from the inception as a multidisciplinary unit. The center has performed over 1000 liver transplants as of July, 2007, and has cared for thousands of patients with liver disease and liver cancer.

• During the 2 ½ years January 2004-June 2006, the Center transplanted 267 adults and 43 children with over a 98% survival rate (compared to a 96% survival rate nationally). Of those, eight children and 28 adults received living donor organs.
• One-year post-transplant survival for the same period was 88% for adults, compared to 87% nationally, and 94% for pediatric transplants.

In the New York State region, the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation has the highest survival rate while on the waiting list, and the shortest waiting time. According to SRTR data from 2007, the Center's waiting list mortality rate is 7%, compared with 13% at the other four regional transplant centers. This is even better than expected when adjusted for the severity of patients' illness while on the waiting list.

Our Specialties

Liver Disease
The Center offers a full spectrum of services to patients suffering from all forms of liver disease, from walk-in office consultations to antiviral treatment for Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B to liver transplantation.

Liver Cancer
Novel treatments for patients with liver cancer and cancers of the bile duct, or cancer that started elsewhere in the body and has spread to the liver.

Liver Transplantation
Liver transplant procedures at the CLDT take advantage of the most sophisticated medical knowledge and surgical technology available today, including living donor transplantation, partial liver transplantation, advanced organ preservation techniques, liver transplantation in HIV- and Hepatitis C co-infected individuals, and antiviral therapy to prevent or treat recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation.

Clinical innovation and scientific progress are at the core of the Center's mission. The center participates in multiple government- and industry-funded clinical research studies at any given time. Our patients have the opportunity to receive treatments available in only a few centers, or in no other centers. We are also a major center for the study of treatment outcomes for liver disease treatment and liver transplantation. Click here to review a complete of the center's clinical research currently underway.

We are committed to caring for all patients regardless of financial status, and we participate in many insurance plans. We strive to offer the widest range of services, therapies and options to individuals facing the burdens of liver disease. We are gratified to help them gain a new lease on life.