Advanced Diagnostics & Decades of Experience
Patients who come to Temple with serious liver ailments receive a comprehensive evaluation. This includes all the tests and procedures (e.g., blood tests, X-rays, MRIs, EKGs, biopsies, endoscopies, heart tests, etc.) needed to determine suitability for transplantation. Advanced imaging diagnostics plus new types of pathologic and genomic information can also be used to guide decision-making in complex cases.
After a full evaluation, patients receive a customized care plan. The plan outlines a regimen for full supportive therapy, immediate consultations for related conditions, and aggressive management of concomitant diseases.
The Temple team's experience and multi-specialty perspective mean that all treatment options will be considered — not just transplantation but novel drug treatments, non-surgical interventions, new radiologic approaches, and other forms of surgery. Throughout this process, the team will make sure that all patient and family member questions will be answered.
Extensive Transplant Experience
When a transplant is required, the Temple team orchestrates the entire process: managing the patient's health during the all-important wait period, preparing the patient for the procedure, creating individualized protocols for specialized needs (e.g., HIV infection, bloodless procedures), performing the actual surgery, and then monitoring the recovery.
Partnering with team members at every stage, Temple transplant surgeons and liver specialists create the seamless and patient-focused stream of care that ensures patients get all the support — emotional and logistical as well as clinical — needed to emerge from the transplant experience in better health and ready for a full life.
Availability of Alternatives
Transplantation is just one option for patients with end-stage liver disease. For those who are not eligible for transplantation, or are on the transplant waiting list, Temple can provide short- and long-term solutions. Some of the non-transplant options offered at Temple include: liver resection (including laparoscopic and parenchyma-sparing), immunosuppression and immunomodulation, varix obliteration, portal decompression using transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunting, chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation, innovative procedures via interventional radiology, and access to clinical trials.
Schedule an appointment with the Temple Liver Transplant team or call 800-TEMPLE-MED (800-836-7536).