Solid Organ Transplant

“We have almost 40 years of transplant excellence, saving over 1,500 pediatric lives through heart, liver, kidney and combined transplants. Our program offers a complete continuum of pediatric liver care, including expertise in acute liver failure and emergent transplant evaluation, with round-the-clock access to transplant hepatologists. In addition, we perform combined organ transplants, including kidney-liver, kidney-heart and heart-liver procedures for patients with multi-organ involvement.”

Yong Kwon, M.D.
Pediatric Transplant Surgeon, Children's Health
Associate Professor, UT Southwestern

Amal Aqul, M.D.
Pediatric Hepatologist, Children's Health
Associate Professor, UT Southwestern

Mouin Seikaly, M.D.
Pediatric Nephrologist and Medical Director of Pediatric Renal Transplant, Children’s Health
Professor, UT Southwestern

PATIENT OUTCOMES

98.28% One-year heart transplant patient survival rate
>92.84% National benchmark

100% One-year kidney transplant patient survival rate
>99.28% National benchmark

20 pediatric liver transplants in 2025, one of the busiest liver transplant teams in the country

KEY PROGRAMS

Multiorgan Transplant

The Children’s Health Solid Organ Transplant Center is among a select few in the nation using machine perfusion to perform heart and liver transplants. The benefits of machine perfusion for organ transplants include the following:

Improves organ viability
Allows extra time to perform complex heart procedures
Gives surgeons more breathing room between multiorgan transplants by keeping the second organ healthy during transplant of the first organ
Expands access to more donors
Results in fewer post-transplant complications

Pediatric Liver transplant

Our nationally recognized pediatric liver transplant specialists use the latest approaches to give children back their childhood. Liver transplant options include whole liver transplant, split-liver transplant, segmental liver transplant and more. We are also a national leader in technical variant grafts enabling shorter wait times and expanded access for critically ill children with liver failure

Pediatric Heart Transplant

Children’s Health has more than 30 years of experience with pediatric heart transplantation and is one of the largest, most experienced programs nationwide. From 2023-2024, we performed 69 heart transplants – more than any other pediatric center in the U.S., including 10% of all infant transplants in the country. With one of the best waitlist survival rates in the nation and the innovative use of ventricular assist devices, including in neonates weighing less than 7 lbs., our team is frequently called upon to evaluate and treat the most complex cases, including those referred by other leading institutions, underscoring our role as a trusted national resource in advanced pediatric cardiac care.

Pediatric Kidney Transplant

The nationally recognized Pediatric Nephrology Program at Children’s Health is a leading referral destination for complex renal care, offering expertise in managing chronic and end-stage kidney disease. We operate one of the largest pediatric hemodialysis centers in the U.S. and provide one of the most comprehensive kidney transplant programs nationwide. Our advanced capabilities include living and deceased donor transplants, kidney paired donation (KPD) for incompatible donor-recipient pairs and a specialized desensitization pathway for highly sensitized patients – ensuring access to lifesaving transplants even for children with the most challenging immunologic profiles.