Digestive Services & Specialties

NewYork-Presbyterian

Liver & Biliary Diseases

The most advanced care for all types of liver and bile duct diseases and disorders

Comprehensive Care from Renowned Liver Disease Experts

Research-based treatments

Diseases of the liver can have dramatic consequences. Your liver filters toxins from your blood and performs several other vital functions. So when it is not working well, it affects the rest of your body. The liver teams in NewYork-Presbyterian's Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation are among the best in the world and attract patients from across the globe.

Our experienced liver specialists provide a full range of treatments, including medications, interventional approaches, and minimally invasive surgeries that are not widely available elsewhere. We are also national leaders in liver transplantation — with one of the country’s largest living donor liver programs — and offer this approach for people whose liver disease cannot be effectively treated using other methods.

What causes liver disease?

There are many different causes of liver disease, some of which are not known. Among the most common known causes are:

  • Excessive alcohol use or drug abuse
  • Hepatitis A, B, and C viruses
  • Autoimmune disorders
  • Congenital problems, meaning you are born with a liver disorder
  • Genetic factors, with some families inheriting a predisposition to liver problems, such as hemochromatosis and Wilson disease
  • Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the setting of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol/triglycerides

What we treat

Our teams provide care for every type and stage of liver and bile duct disorder, including:

  • Acute liver failure
  • Autoimmune hepatitis
  • Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)
  • Primary (PSC) and secondary sclerosing cholangitis
  • Cirrhosis of the liver
  • Fatty liver disease, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
  • Gallstones and other gallbladder diseases
  • Hepatitis B
  • Hepatitis C
  • Hepatitis D
  • Liver and bile duct cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma)
  • Portal hypertension
  • Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC)

Signs & symptoms of liver problems

Many liver diseases have no symptoms until the liver condition becomes more advanced.  That is why your primary care doctor should screen for liver diseases and hepatitis using blood tests. If you have liver or biliary disease, your symptoms may vary depending on which type of disorder you have and how advanced it is. Some of the most common symptoms include:

  • Pain in the right upper abdomen
  • Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes)
  • Itchy skin
  • Swelling of the abdomen
  • Change in the color of the urine and/or stool
  • Fatigue (feeling tired)
  • Nausea
  • Loss of appetite
  • Feeling confused/disoriented

Advanced diagnostic techniques

Liver diseases can cause symptoms that mimic other illnesses, so an accurate diagnosis is necessary. It is also essential to evaluate the condition of your liver and determine much scarring (if any) has developed. We have all of the tools to diagnose the cause of your symptoms, including liver biopsy, interventional endoscopic procedures, and imaging tests. We also use non-invasive technologies such as Fibroscan® and magnetic resonance elastography, which enables us to assess the condition of your liver without having to do a liver biopsy. From routine blood tests to sophisticated radiologic and endoscopic techniques, you can receive all the testing you need at NewYork-Presbyterian.

Our approach to care

Our liver care teams include hepatologists (liver doctors), gastroenterologists, interventional endoscopists, liver surgeons, oncologists, infectious disease specialists, nurses and nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered dietitians, psychiatrists, social workers, and others with experience caring for people with liver disorders. Your team includes internationally renowned leaders in research, too, ensuring you are receiving the most up-to-date therapies available today.

Many liver diseases are associated with other disorders or have complications. If this is the case for you, we can connect you with other doctors at NewYork-Presbyterian to address those medical needs as well — all in one medical center — so you can receive seamless, coordinated care.

Customized care for liver and biliary diseases

Your team assesses your disease and overall health to choose the most effective treatment for you. In addition to medical treatment and surgery, we offer advanced procedures such as:

Interventional endoscopy. Many liver and gallbladder diseases once treated with invasive surgery can now be managed with interventional endoscopy: procedures performed through a flexible tube inserted into your mouth (following sedation) to gain access to the bile duct. NewYork-Presbyterian has the largest and most pre-eminent interventional endoscopy programs in the New York region. Examples of the procedures offered for liver and bile duct diseases include:

  • Endoscopic ultrasound
  • Spyglass visualization and probe-based confocal endomicroscopy, using a small scope to view the small branches of the bile duct
  • Narrow band imaging to view the liver and bile ducts
  • Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP)
  • Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to image the biliary system and treat bile duct blockages

Interventional radiology. Our internationally recognized interventional radiologists use the most up-to-date techniques to diagnose and treat multiple liver conditions, including biliary obstruction, portal hypertension, and liver cancer.

Liver transplantation. Our surgeons in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation have performed more than 2,500 liver transplants. They use a variety of approaches including living donor liver transplantation to extend the limits of organ transplantation and provide the greatest number of transplants possible.

Investigational therapies. Patients whose disease cannot be effectively treated with other means may be eligible to participate in a clinical trial of a promising new therapy.

Why choose us

People who come to NewYork-Presbyterian for the care of liver and biliary diseases benefit from the expertise of renowned physicians and surgeons, access to every type of treatment available, and opportunities to receive innovative therapies. We take the least invasive approach possible to achieve the best outcomes while supporting your quality of life.

Patients are more likely to receive a liver transplant here than at other hospitals in the region, with liver transplant outcomes meeting or surpassing national and regional averages. Our transplant rate (the likelihood of getting a transplant while on the waiting list) and waiting list survival far exceed all other programs in the region. Contact us today for an appointment to learn how we can help you.

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NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Center for Liver Disease & Transplantation

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center

Gastroenterology & Hepatology

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center

Division of Liver Transplantation, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery

NewYork-Presbyterian Queens

Division of Gastroenterology

NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital

Center for Liver Diseases

NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester (formerly Lawrence Hospital)

Digestive Disease Care

NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital

Digestive Health