Pediatric Organ Transplant Center

Thousands of children have received lifesaving organ transplants at the Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant Center at Children’s Health℠. Our transplant teams have decades of experience successfully transplanting hearts, kidneys and livers for infants to young adults, including complex cases that other centers turn away. We also excel at multiple-organ transplants.

Experts at our dedicated heart failure, kidney failure and liver failure programs help keep your child as healthy as possible while they wait for an organ transplant. We’re one of the country’s highest volume pediatric heart transplant programs, offer different types of pediatric liver transplants and provide living-donor kidney transplants. Depending on the type of organ transplant, we meet or exceed national outcomes.

Your family receives comprehensive care from experienced transplant surgeons and a dedicated, multidisciplinary transplant support team that’s here for you through each step of this journey. We offer hope and help during this challenging time.

Comprehensive pediatric heart, liver and kidney programs

Children experiencing organ failure need ongoing support while they wait for a new organ. At Children’s Health, our dedicated heart, kidney and liver programs bring together a team of specialists who work together. We help your child stay as healthy as possible before, during and after transplantation.

Pediatric Heart Transplant Program

Our Pediatric Heart Transplant Program is one of the most experienced and busiest in the country. It’s also the only one of its kind in North Texas. Since 1988, we’ve performed more than 400 pediatric heart transplants on infants to young adults.

We handle complex cases, including heart transplants on the smallest infants. In fact, one in 10 infant heart transplants in the nation are performed at Children’s Health. We also have experience performing combination heart-kidney and heart-liver transplants. Our heart transplant outcomes are consistently among the best in the country.

Children who need a heart transplant benefit from:

• One of the nation’s top Pediatric Heart Centers, as rated by U.S. News & World Report

• Dedicated Pediatric Heart Failure Program with nationally recognized pediatric cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons

• Only Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Program in North Texas, offering VADs that support heart function before a heart transplant or as a long-term treatment option

• Region’s most comprehensive pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (CICU), providing advanced care as your child recovers from a heart procedure or transplant

• Pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for children experiencing life-threatening heart problems while waiting for transplantation

• Pediatric implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) to manage life-threatening arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) before a heart transplant

Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program

Our kidney transplant surgeons have performed more than 500 pediatric kidney transplants since 1979, making our Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program one of the most experienced in Texas. We also have the expertise to perform complex kidney-heart and kidney-liver transplants. Our kidney transplant outcomes consistently meet or exceed national averages.

Children who need a kidney transplant benefit from:

• One of the nation’s top pediatric nephrology (kidney care) programs, as rated by U.S. News & World Report, and the largest in North Texas

• Dedicated team of kidney disease specialists (nephrologists)

• One of the country’s largest pediatric hemodialysis centers for children with end-stage kidney (renal) disease who need a kidney transplant

• Living-donor kidney transplants through our affiliation with UT Southwestern Medical Center

Pediatric Liver Transplant Program

More than 570 children have received liver transplants since the founding of our Pediatric Liver Transplant Program in 1984. We also have the expertise to perform complex liver-heart and liver-kidney transplants.

Children who need a liver transplant benefit from:

• One of the nation’s top pediatric gastroenterology (GI), hepatology (liver disease) and nutrition programs, as rated by U.S. News & World Report

• Region’s only Pediatric Liver (Hepatology) Disease Center featuring a team of pediatric liver disease specialists (hepatologists) and digestive disease specialists (gastroenterologists)

• All types of liver transplant options, including whole, split, segmental and ABO-incompatible liver transplants

Expert care at each stage of the transplant journey

An organ transplant is a complex procedure, and it’s normal to have questions and concerns. Experts on our Pediatric Organ Transplant Support Team offer compassionate care that helps your family before, during and after transplantation.

Your family benefits from access to:

• Child Life specialists who help your child understand what to expect during transplant medical tests and help them prepare for transplant surgery

• Clinical nutrition experts who help your child get the nutrients they need to stay healthy before and after an organ transplant

• Health psychologists and therapists who specialize in helping children who have serious health conditions and undergo complex medical procedures

• Inclusive spiritual care team who provides counseling and support

• Social workers who provide emotional support and assist with lodging, billing, financial concerns and other needs

• Certified transplant coordinators (registered nurses) with additional transplant training for certification

• Transplant pharmacists who provide specialized care and support, especially for understanding medications

Saving lives with more donor organ options and innovative technology

Organ transplantation starts with finding an organ that’s the right match for your child’s blood type, anatomy, unique needs and other factors. At Children’s Health, we’re taking steps to get your child the organ transplant they need as quickly as possible.

Living-donor kidney transplants

If your child needs a kidney transplant, their wait time for transplantation may be shorter if a family member, family friend or anonymous donor donates a kidney. We offer adult-to-child living-donor kidney transplants through our affiliation with UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Learn facts about organ donation and how to become an organ donor.

Normothermic machine perfusion

We’re among a select few children’s hospitals in the country using normothermic machine perfusion (NMP). This innovative technology helps keep organs from deceased donors in the best condition before transplantation. With NMP, a machine circulates warm, oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood through the donor organ. It also keeps the donor heart pumping and circulating blood.

Because donor organs receive blood as they would inside the body, they remain viable for transplantation longer. This means we can accept organs from donors in locations once considered too far away. NMP also allows us to accept organs from donors who experience circulatory death (loss of heart function and blood flow), not just donors who experience brain death.

See how our team performed a historic heart and liver transplant using NMP and how we performed one of the first pediatric liver transplants using NMP.