We are currently making updates and improvements to the OPTN website. Data dashboards, calculators, and other interactive tools will be back online as soon as possible.
Ongoing updates
The Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease model (PELD) is a calculated formula used to assign priority to most liver transplant candidates younger than age 12 based upon their medical urgency.
Some updates were made effective July 13, 2023, to data used in the PELD calculation formula. These updates were part of an initiative (PDF - 667 KB) to better predict the risk of waitlist mortality for liver transplant candidates.
How the Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease is calculated and used
The PELD calculation uses the following inputs:
- Serum creatinine (mg/dL) (The default creatinine value is set to 1.3 mg/dL if the candidate either has had dialysis twice within the last week, or has been on 24 hours of continuous veno-venous hemodialysis within the past week.)
- Albumin (g/dL)
- Bilirubin (mg/dL)
- INR
- Candidate growth (assessed according to the minimum of CDC height or weight Z-score)
- Candidate age (based on age at the time of the most recent lab test reported for the PELD calculation)
User guide for MELD and PELD calculators (PDF - 266 KB)
The PELD calculator is used for candidates up to 12 years old. The MELD calculator is used for candidates 12 and older.
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