The Liver Care Center
Liver Care

Get expert, coordinated care for your child’s liver condition from one of the nation’s most experienced pediatric liver programs.

A liver patient being examined by a doctor.

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Second Opinions

When Your Child Has Liver Disease, You Need Clear Answers and a Plan

Learning your child may have a liver problem can feel overwhelming. You may have questions about diagnosis, treatment, or what comes next.

At Cincinnati Children’s, our Liver Care Center has helped families for decades. We care for children with complex conditions like biliary atresia, autoimmune liver disease, hepatitis, and very rare genetic liver diseases such as progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis. Our team works together to give you clear answers and a plan you can trust.

Why Choose Cincinnati Children’s Liver Care Center?

Team-based care: Your child’s case is reviewed by hepatologists, surgeons, radiologists and more, so you get one clear plan.
Streamlined scheduling: Our coordinators gather records, plan visits and schedule tests—often all in one day.
Second opinions: We welcome families seeking answers, even without a clear diagnosis or plan.
Personalized care plans: Treatment is tailored to your child’s condition, needs and response to care.

Liver Care Expertise and Services

Nationally recognized care

Cincinnati Children’s is ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation. Our gastroenterology and liver care programs are also nationally ranked.

We are one of the oldest and most experienced pediatric liver centers in the United States. Families from across the Midwest and beyond trust us for complex care and second opinions.

Advanced tests and treatments

We offer leading treatments and tools to better understand your child’s liver health. These include FibroScan (a painless test that checks liver scarring), MR elastography and advanced biopsy options.

Our team is among the few in the country offering interventional endoscopy for children, including endoscopic liver biopsy and ERCP. Many of these procedures allow your child to go home the same day.

Cincinnati’s Undiagnosed and Rare Disease panel is a genetic test developed to help identify even the most difficult to diagnose cases. We have used this panel to find diagnoses for patients who have gone decades without answers.

We also provide liver transplants, including living donor transplant, and create careful immunosuppression plans to reduce medication side effects.

Coordinated, personalized care

Your child will have a dedicated nurse coordinator who helps guide your care from the start. You won’t need to repeat your story at every visit.

Our team meets often to review cases together. We also partner with experts across Cincinnati Children’s, including specialists in autoimmune disease, heart care, cancer and blood diseases.

We build a personalized care plan that fits your child’s needs and coordinates visits to reduce stress and time away from home.

Support for traveling families

Many families come to us for a second opinion. We make the process simple.

Our team collects records, reviews them in advance and creates a plan before your visit. We help schedule tests and visits on the same day when possible.

We also provide help with travel, lodging and directions so you can focus on your child.

I have worked at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for more than forty years to better understand liver diseases, such as viral hepatitis, chronic cholestasis, metabolic liver disease and the outcomes of liver transplant in children.

William Balistreri, MD

Director Emeritus, Pediatric Liver Care Center

Center for Rare Liver Disease Photoshoot, Dr. William Balistreri

Conditions We Treat