Liver Transplants

Now that Chelsey Hoyle is rid of her scarred, dysfunctional liver, the 1-year-old can really get down to the business of being a baby. Chelsey received part of an adult liver during a transplant operation in early November, less than a month before her first birthday. The operation was UF&Shands’ first pediatric liver transplant since the program’s seven-month hiatus and its reactivation in April 2012. The program is one of only two in Florida.

UF&Shands, the University of Florida Academic Health Center, has reactivated its adult and pediatric liver transplant programs and can resume performing liver transplants immediately, officials said today. The United Network for Organ Sharing approved the reactivation on Friday, April 20. UNOS is the private, nonprofit organization that manages the nation’s…

UF department of surgery researchers have uncovered more information about why elderly patients often fare poorly after liver surgery, and why livers donated by elderly people often experience ischemia-reperfusion injury during transplantation, while younger people’s livers typically are more stable. Ischemia-reperfusion injury is a form of damage that occurs when…

University of Florida scientists have identified a key cellular process involved in age-related damage to the liver — and ways to reverse that damage by manipulating genes or administering certain drugs.