East Bay Toddler in Waiting Game For a Combined Liver-Kidney Transplant at UCSF

21-month old Matthew Ouimet was born with primary hyperoxaluria Type I, a rare liver condition that causes buildup of oxalates in the body which damages the kidney. Matthew first experienced renal failure at 4 months old. On both the kidney and liver transplant waiting lists, he now undergoes four-hour dialysis sessions six days a week at UCSF Medical Center, attended by Julius Heilman, R.N. (pictured left), patient care manager of the pediatric dialysis unit and the UCSF Pediatric Transplant team. "The waiting list for a liver is based on how ill you are," explains Dr. Paul Brakeman (pictured right), a pediatric nephrologist and Medical Director of the Pediatric Dialysis Unit UCSF. "The more ill you are, the more points you get, the more likely you are to get an organ. Matthew's lab tests look good because he has a functioning liver. He just doesn't have the gene that removes the oxalates from his system."