Patients who live in the Austin area can now undergo liver transplant evaluations (LTE) at the Baylor Scott & White Transplant Hepatology Clinic in Round Rock, Texas. The first LTEs outside of Baylor University Medical Center (Baylor Dallas), part of Baylor Scott & White Health, and Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth, began the last week of January.
The Round Rock clinic is one of 10 hepatology outreach clinics located throughout Texas. Hepatologists on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas and BSW Fort Worth travel to these outreach clinics to see patients and provide ongoing care.
Physicians providing the evaluations in Round Rock include transplant hepatologists Raja Dhanekula, MD, and James Trotter, MD, and surgeons Robert Goldstein, MD, and Giuliano Testa, MD.
“We are providing about 25 percent of our outpatient care in our outreach clinics,” James Trotter, MD, medical director of hepatology outreach strategy at Baylor Dallas says. “This means we can see patients where they live, and they only need to come to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for specialized services, such as transplant surgery. It makes managing liver disease much easier for our patients, and we are pleased to expand our liver transplant evaluations to patients in the Austin area. We hope to offer the evaluations in Round Rock once a month.”
Baylor Scott & White takes lead on improving liver health
The burden of liver disease is increasing in Dallas/Fort Worth and throughout the nation. In addition to alcohol abuse or misuse, there has been an alarming increase in the incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a leading cause of cirrhosis.
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