Liver Diseases
The Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is recognized for excellence in patient care and innovative research into acute and chronic pediatric liver diseases.
Working in collaboration with specialists across our hospital, we offer personalized care and support to children and their families every step of the way. As a result, we have exceptional patient care outcomes and liver transplant survival rates, consistently surpassing national averages.
More than 100 types of known liver disease affect children and adults. In fact, at least 30 million people in the United States are diagnosed with some form of liver disease. Among those that we see at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital are
- Acute liver failure
- Acute and chronic hepatitis
- Alagille syndrome
- Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Biliary and gall bladder disorders
- Choledochal cyst
- Chronic hepatitis B
- Chronic hepatitis C
- Cirrhosis of the liver
- Congenital hepatic fibrosis
- Cystic fibrosis liver disease
- End-stage liver disease
- Fatty liver disease
- Glycogen storage diseases of the liver
- Hemochromatosis
- Liver tumors and masses (malignant and non-malignant)
- Mitochondrial disorders of the liver
- Portal hypertension and esophageal varices
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis
- Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (Byler syndrome and others)
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Portal hypertension
- Wilson’s disease
Symptoms
See a doctor if your child develops any of the following symptoms, which could point to liver disease:
- Jaundice: yellow coloring of the skin and whites of the eyes
- Abdominal pain or bloating
- Change of sleep patterns
- Grey or pale-colored stools
- Blood in the stools or urine
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Poor weight gain
- Portal hypertension and varices
- Pruritus (itching)
- Fatigue or loss of stamina
- Vomiting
- Vomiting of blood
- Yellow urine
A child can develop problems with the liver suddenly after ingestion of certain chemicals, herbs, or even some medications. It can also develop as the result of a longer-term disease or defect, such as hepatitis or biliary atresia.
Liver Transplant
In some cases, children may require a liver transplant. We have a nationally recognized pediatric liver transplant program.
Clinical Research
SLUCare gastroenterologists at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital are internationally respected for research into chronic liver diseases, particularly
- alpha-1antitrypsin deficiency (AATD)
- non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
- nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
- hepatitis B and C
- biliary atresia
- liver transplant outcomes
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital is one of a few pediatric centers in the United States participating in the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network, a collaborative research network focused on finding treatments and novel therapeutics for NASH and NAFLD.
We have expertise in the treatment of children diagnosed with hepatitis B and C. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital was the first hospital in the state of Missouri to offer pediatric clinical trials for Harvoni, which later was FDA-approved for children ages 7 and older diagnosed with hepatitis C. The hospital also is one of only seven pediatric centers in the country to participate in the Hepatitis B Research Network. Several clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of new therapeutics to treat chronic hepatitis B in children are under way through this group.