Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Once Again Leads Nation in Pediatric Liver Transplant Outcomes
New national data confirm CHLA’s best-in-class pediatric liver transplant outcomes, driven by advanced surgical expertise and multidisciplinary care
LOS ANGELES --(BUSINESS WIRE)
Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) continues to lead the nation in pediatric liver transplant outcomes—achieving the best one- and three-year patient survival rates in the United States for the second-straight year, according to newly released data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). In addition to these best-in-class outcomes, CHLA also remained among the nation’s highest-volume centers. The team performed 29 pediatric liver transplants in 2025—the most in the Western U.S. and among the top 3 programs nationally.
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Dr. Kambiz Etesami (right), Chief of Abdominal Organ Transplantation at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, with baby Banner and his parents. Last year, Dr. Etesami and the CHLA team performed a liver transplant on Banner when he was just 2 weeks old, making him the youngest-ever liver transplant recipient in California.
“Achieving the nation’s best survival rates while sustaining one of the highest-volume and most complex pediatric liver transplant practices in the country is extraordinary,” says Kambiz Etesami, MD, FACS, Chief of Abdominal Organ Transplantation at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “These results are a direct reflection of the strength and dedication of our entire multidisciplinary team.”
The most complex cases
According to the SRTR data, CHLA’s pediatric liver transplant patients had:
- 100% one-year survival, compared with 96.22% nationally (July 1, 2022-Dec. 31, 2024)
- 98.4% three-year survival, compared with 93% nationally (June 13, 2020-June 30, 2022)
These outcomes are especially notable given that the team takes on the most complex and difficult cases.
“These numbers are not just strong—they are exceptional,” says Beth Carter, MD, Section Chief of Hepatology and Medical Director of the Liver Transplant Program. “They are a testament to our team’s deep experience across every stage of care.”
In 2025, CHLA achieved several surgical firsts and milestones, including performing a transplant on a 2-week-old infant—the youngest-ever liver transplant recipient in California. Because the donor was a deceased adult, surgeons had to split the organ and then further reduce the graft to safely transplant it into the 7-pound baby. Also last year, the team performed synchronous liver transplants on two pediatric patients, using portions of the same donated liver. The exceedingly rare dual procedures saved the lives of two children.
“These are surgeries that only a handful of programs in the country can perform,” Dr. Etesami notes. “Our goal is to expand access to transplant for children who previously would not have been candidates.”
Living donors decrease wait times
The newly released data also underscore CHLA’s leadership in living donor liver transplantation. Since the program’s launch in 1998, roughly one-third of all liver transplants performed at CHLA have involved a living donor. This gives children access to a lifesaving transplant sooner, reduces wait list times, and allows surgeons to tailor grafts to a child’s size and clinical needs. In a living donor transplant, a patient receives a small portion of a liver from a relative or compatible volunteer. The donor liver regrows to its previous capacity within six to 12 weeks, while the transplanted portion grows as the child does.
An integrated team
CHLA’s leading outcomes stem from a deeply integrated model that brings together pediatric transplant surgeons and hepatologists, hospital medicine physicians, transplant nurses and coordinators, interventional radiology, critical care teams, and specialists in nutrition, psychology, and social work.
“Care is coordinated seamlessly across multiple specialties,” says Rohit Kohli, MBBS, MS, Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at CHLA and Associates Chair in Liver and Intestinal Research. “Families are supported every step of the way, from diagnosis and transplant through long-term follow-up.”
Backed by a robust research program, CHLA continues to grow its leadership in pediatric liver transplantation.
“We are proud of what these results mean for our patients,” Dr. Kohli says. “But our focus is always forward—to advance the science, broaden access, and give every child the strongest chance for a healthy future.”
About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is at the forefront of pediatric medicine and is the largest provider of hospital care for children in California. Since its founding in 1901, CHLA has delivered a level of pediatric care that is among the best in the world. Ranked one of the top 10 children’s hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provides comprehensive and compassionate care to one of the largest and most diverse pediatric patient populations in the country. The hospital is the top-ranked children’s hospital in California and the Pacific U.S. region for 2025-26. A leader in pediatric research, CHLA is among the top 10 children’s hospitals for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles supports the full continuum of research, translating scientific discoveries into life-changing treatments for patients around the globe. As a pediatric academic medical center, CHLA is also home to one of the largest graduate education programs for pediatricians in the United States. The hospital’s commitment to building stronger, healthier communities is evident in CHLA’s efforts to enhance health education and literacy, introduce more people to careers in health care, and fight food insecurity. To learn more, follow CHLA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X, and visit CHLA.org.
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