Hepatology

Modern liver care requires multiple people in multiple disciplines working together. At Ochsner, our comprehensive approach to liver care involves a wide range of specialists who meet multiple times a week to discuss care, including:

• Hepatologists

• Interventional radiologists

• Medical oncologists

• Nurses

• Social workers

• Surgeons

• Surgical oncologists

• Transplant surgeons

Additionally, liver transplant patients will work with a transplant coordinator and financial coordinators. We also work with gastroenterologists, who specialize in the treatment of digestive conditions, internal medicine specialists and other experts to address issues that may be affecting organs beyond the liver, such as the pancreas and large and small intestines.

Ochsner provides advanced liver care across Louisiana at multiple locations, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Find a location near you.

Ochsner was the first hospital in Louisiana to perform a liver transplant back in 1984. Today, we are among the top liver transplant programs in the U.S. in terms of volume, performing more than 100 liver transplants each year. We also offer the only pediatric liver transplant program in Louisiana. Our Medicare-approved program is a Center of Excellence for many insurers. The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients notes that Ochsner is among the country’s 20 busiest (by volume) liver transplant programs for deceased donors.

Though almost 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with liver disease, millions more likely have some type of liver problems but do not know it. Liver disease and damage can be caused by genetics, infections, an unhealthy diet, drug use or heavy alcohol consumption. Other problems may affect the larger biliary tree, which includes the liver, gallbladder and bile ducts.

Ochsner hepatology specializes in treating dozens of liver conditions, including:

• Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency — a genetic condition that can cause liver or lung disease

• Alcoholic fatty liver disease — a type of liver damage caused by heavy alcohol use

• Bile duct cancer

• Cirrhosis of the liver (hepatic cirrhosis) — a type of chronic liver damage that causes scarring and often leads to liver failure

• Hemochromatosis — a liver disorder that causes too much iron to build up in your body

• Hepatitis — a viral infection that causes inflammation and can lead to liver failure if untreated

• Liver cancer

• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease — a condition when fat builds up in your liver and causes damage

• Other genetic liver and bile duct conditions, such as Alagille’s syndrome, Caroli disease and Wilson’s disease

• Primary biliary cirrhosis (also called primary biliary cirrhosis) — a type of liver disease that damages the bile ducts

• Primary sclerosing cholangitis — a type of liver disease in which scar tissue blocks the bile ducts

Ochsner uses advanced diagnostics for identifying and staging liver disease. Patients may receive:

• Blood tests that can assess your liver function

• CT scan

• Endoscopy

• FibroScan imaging, a type of ultrasound that can assess how much scarring (fibrosis) is on the liver

• Liver biopsy

• MRI

Ochsner offers advanced treatment for liver disease, including transplant and a wide range of therapies to treat cancer. Our living donor liver transplant program is not offered anywhere else in the region, and it allows us to transplant more patients. And with the latest treatment in liver cancer, we’ve been able to downstage many advanced cancers until patients can receive a curative liver transplant. Treatment options include:

• Chemotherapy

• Liver resection

• Liver transplant

• Living donor liver transplant

• Immunotherapy

• Medication

• Microwave ablation of tumors — using heat to destroy cancer cells

• Minimally invasive and robotic surgery

• Paracentesis or thoracentesis — procedures that remove fluid that causes swelling in the abdomen or chest

• Radiation

• Radioembolization — radioactive beads are injected into the liver, via a blood vessel, to treat cancer

• Targeted therapy — cancer treatment that targets changing cancer cells to try and stop them from spreading

• Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt — a type of stent that improves blood flow to the liver

Some types of liver disease may be helped by lifestyle changes, such as quitting drinking and losing weight. For patients who have trouble making these changes on their own, we provide referrals to other departments, including:

• Bariatric Surgery

• Comprehensive Weight Loss

• Ochsner Recovery Program

We have ongoing clinical trials testing the latest advances in treatment for several conditions, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Liver transplant patients may also be eligible for certain trials. By participating in clinical trials, patients gain access to treatments not otherwise available to them.