Hepatology Program

Children's National's Hepatology Program provides specialized diagnostic, evaluation and treatment services for children with a variety of liver diseases. The program is coordinated through the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

We emphasize a personal approach to care, and the program's pediatric gastroenterologists work closely with related specialists from the divisions of Radiology, Anesthesiology and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine to create an individual care plan for every child.

Conditions treated in the Hepatology Program include:

• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Biliary atresia
• Drug-related hepatitis
• Infectious hepatitis (including hepatitis B and C)
• Metabolic hepatitis (such as Wilson's Disease)
• Neonatal jaundice
• Steatohepatitis (fatty liver)
• TPN-related hepatitis
• Transplantation (pre and post)

Our advanced services include radiologic studies, including sonograms, elastography, Magnetic Resonant Cholangiograms (MRCP) and sonogram guided liver biopsies. We collaborate with the Obesity Program to care for children with fatty liver.

Additionally, our Hepatology Program routinely follows patients who are listed for liver transplantation and have already received transplantation.

A Program to Meet the Needs of Families

Children's National offers weekly clinics for patients and their families to manage liver disease including education and counseling about liver disease, to provide them with an opportunity to ask questions, and help them cope with their child's illness.