Liver Diseases

UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Clinic for Liver Diseases offers the most advanced diagnostic and treatment options for all types of liver disease.

By preventing or delaying additional liver damage and related complications through innovative therapies, our liver disease specialists are able to markedly improve patients’ health and quality of life. Our compassionate team provides comprehensive patient-centered care with a focus on patient education.

Leaders in Liver Disease Research and Patient Care 

UT Southwestern is dedicated to treating, curing, and restoring a sense of health for all who suffer from liver disease.

We are at the forefront of liver disease treatment and research. Our faculty has a long history of advancements in the field, translating groundbreaking scientific insights into superior patient care. Our team includes:

• Willis Maddrey, M.D., whose research in alcoholic liver disease established the Maddrey score, a calculation used by doctors worldwide to determine the severity of alcoholic hepatitis.
  
• Helen Hobbs, M.D., and Jay Horton, M.D., pioneers in fatty liver disease research. Dr. Hobbs and her team have uncovered genetic risk factors and novel potential treatment targets for fatty liver disease.
  
• William Lee, M.D., a renowned expert in acute liver failure and principal investigator of the Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Dr. Lee is also a leader in clinical research and management of hepatitis B and C as the founder of the Liver Unit for clinical trials at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
  
• Jorge Marrero, M.D., an expert in the field of hepatocellular carcinoma research and management and liver transplant medicine. Under his medical directorship, the UT Southwestern Liver Transplant program has emerged as a center of excellence.
  
• Amit Singal, M.D., a premier researcher in hepatocellular carcinoma screening.  He is among the top contributors to the literature worldwide. He is also Medical Director of the Liver Tumor Program at UT Southwestern.
  
• Marlyn Mayo, M.D., an expert in the field of autoimmune-mediated and cholestatic liver disease. She has contributed significantly to the literature and body of knowledge for the management of primary biliary cholangitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and autoimmune hepatitis. She is a sought-after speaker nationally and internationally.
  
• Mack Mitchell, M.D., a leader in clinical research on the forefront of understanding and managing alcoholic liver disease. Dr. Mitchell and his collaborators continue to investigate novel treatments for a disease with limited treatment options and a high mortality.
  

Conditions Treated

Liver diseases treated at UT Southwestern include:

• Acute liver failure: Rare but serious rapid deterioration of liver function in someone with no pre-existing liver disease
  
• Alcoholic liver disease: Liver damage caused by excessive alcohol use
  
• Autoimmune hepatitis: A chronic disease that occurs when the immune system attacks the liver
  
• Cirrhosis of the liver: A gradual disease in which healthy liver cells are replaced by scar tissue, which can result from any chronic liver disease and not just from excessive alcohol intake
  
• Drug-induced liver injury: A rare adverse drug reaction seen with prescription medication or non-prescription, over-the-counter supplements and herbs; sometimes associated with acetaminophen use
  
• Fatty liver: A disease characterized by the buildup of fat in the liver tissue
  
• Hemochromatosis: A disorder in which the body absorbs and stores too much iron
  
• Viral hepatitis: An infection that causes inflammation of the liver; typically caused by the hepatitis A, B, or C viruses
  
• Liver cancer: Cancer that begins in the cells of the liver
  
• Liver tumors: Abnormal growths on or in the liver; these can be cancerous or noncancerous
  
• Primary biliary cholangitis: A chronic disease caused by progressive scarring of the liver’s bile ducts
  
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis: A chronic disease in which inflammation causes scarring within the liver’s bile ducts
  
• Wilson’s disease: A rare genetic disorder in which copper builds up in the liver, brain, and other vital organs
  

Our collaborative approach incorporates gastroenterologists, hepatologists, radiologists, hepatobiliary surgeons, and pathologists.

Treatment Options

Our specialists provide the latest therapies, including immunosuppressant medications and advanced procedures to treat portal hypertension and ascites (complications of cirrhosis).

Liver transplants

Established in 2007, our Liver Transplant Program has performed hundreds of lifesaving liver transplants to patients with end-stage liver failure. Our highly trained specialists use the most advanced surgical techniques and technologies, and our program has a three-year patient survival rate that surpasses the national average. As our transplant program continues to grow, we look forward to offering our patients the game-changing possibility of living donor liver transplant.

Research

The Liver Unit at UT Southwestern Medical Center has been part of more than 40 clinical trials in the past 20 years and been instrumental in major national research networks in hepatitis B and C, drug-induced liver injury, and acute liver failure. No other center in Texas can make this claim.