COMMITMENT
to patients and the future
PERFECT
A lifesaving liver transplant at Baylor Scott & White
and a sister’s love give renewed quality of life to a
patient with a rare combination of liver diseases
ome things are meant to be.
The 2013 merger of Baylor
Health Care System and Scott
& White Healthcare combined the
expertise of two nationally recognized
systems and expanded access to highquality healthcare to more people across
Texas. This collaborative partnership—
with 45 hospitals and more than 500
patient care sites, 6,000 physicians, and
36,000 employees—now offers access
to virtually every clinical specialty to
benefit patients throughout north and
central Texas. Lacy Barcak is one.
For nearly half her life, Mrs. Lacy
Barcak, 33 of Rockdale, Texas, was
unaware that she suffered from two
serious liver diseases. She had no
physical symptoms and showed no
visible signs of illness. That changed
in 2000 when a routine test during
her pregnancy showed high cholesterol
levels. Follow-up blood tests revealed
elevated liver enzymes.
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THE CATALYST September 15 | sw.org
A rare combination
of liver diseases
Over the next several years, Mrs. Barcak
visited leading diagnostic centers around
the country looking for answers and
treatment options for her conditions.
Finally, she learned that she had been
suffering from two liver ailments,
autoimmune hepatitis and primary
sclerosing cholangitis. “She has what we
call an overlap syndrome,” says Jennifer
Vincent, DO, a gastroenterologist
with a subspecialty in hepatology (liver
disease) at Baylor Scott & White Health
- Central Region. Dr. Vincent began
treating Mrs. Barcak after her diagnosis
eight years ago.
Autoimmune hepatitis means the
body’s immune system attacks the
liver. Primary sclerosing cholangitis is
a disease of the bile ducts. Neither
disease is uncommon by itself, but the
combination is, says Dr. Vincent.
“One of the benefits of a living
donor program is that patients who
will likely have a long wait on the
transplant list can get treatment
much sooner.”
—Jennifer Vincent, DO