Evaluation of coronary artery disease in potential liver transplant recipients

Brian J. Hogan, Enoka Gonsalkorala, Michael A. Heneghan – 22 November 2016 – Improvements in the management of patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT) have resulted in a significant increase in survival in recent years. Cardiac disease is now the leading cause of early mortality, and the stress of major surgery, hemodynamic shifts, and the possibilities of hemorrhage or reperfusion syndrome require the recipient to have good baseline cardiac function.

Management of renal failure in end‐stage liver disease: A critical appraisal

Xingxing S. Cheng, Jane C. Tan, W. Ray Kim – 22 November 2016 – Renal failure is a late consequence of end‐stage liver disease (ESLD). Even with liver transplantation, pretransplant renal impairment remains a strong predictor of posttransplant mortality. This review seeks to summarize and critically appraise common therapies used in this setting, including pharmacologic agents, procedures (transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, renal replacement therapy), and simultaneous liver‐kidney transplantation.

Immunosuppression in pediatric liver transplant recipients: Unique aspects

Tamir Miloh, Andrea Barton, Justin Wheeler, Yen Pham, Winston Hewitt, Tara Keegan, Christine Sanchez, Pinar Bulut, John Goss – 22 November 2016 – Pediatric liver transplantation has experienced improved outcomes over the last 50 years. This can be attributed in part to establishing optimal use of immunosuppressive agents to achieve a balance between minimizing the risks of allograft rejection and infection. The management of immunosuppression in children is generally more complex and can be challenging when compared with the use of these agents in adult liver transplant patients.

IL6‐mediated inflammatory loop reprograms normal to epithelial‐mesenchymal transition+ metastatic cancer stem cells in preneoplastic liver of transforming growth factor beta–deficient β2‐spectrin+/− mice

Abhisek Mitra, Jun Yan, Xueqing Xia, Shouhao Zhou, Jian Chen, Lopa Mishra, Shulin Li – 18 November 2016 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second‐leading cause of cancer‐related deaths worldwide with a poor survival rate. As many as 40% of HCCs are clonal, with alteration of key tumor‐suppressor pathways in stem cells as the primary cause of HCC initiation. However, mechanisms that generate metastatic stem cells in preneoplastic liver tissue are not well understood.

Elevated FABP1 serum levels are associated with poorer survival in acetaminophen‐induced acute liver failure

Constantine J. Karvellas, Jaime L. Speiser, Mélanie Tremblay, William M. Lee, Christopher F. Rose, for the US Acute Liver Failure Study Group – 18 November 2016 – Acetaminophen (APAP)‐induced acute liver failure (ALF) is associated with significant mortality. Traditional prognostic scores lack sensitivity. Serum liver‐type fatty acid binding protein (FABP1) early (day 1) or late (day 3‐5) levels are associated with 21‐day mortality in the absence of liver transplant.

The origin of fibrogenic myofibroblasts in fibrotic liver

Tatiana Kisseleva – 18 November 2016 – Liver fibrosis results from chronic liver injury of different etiologies. It is characterized by dysregulation of physiological remodeling, activation of myofibroblasts, and formation of a fibrous scar. Myofibroblasts develop contractile functions and secrete the extracellular matrix proteins that form this fibrous scar. Myofibroblasts are not present in the normal liver but activate and proliferate in response to injury and inflammation.

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