Pediatric liver transplantation: Personal perspectives on historical achievements and future challenges

Jean‐Bernard Otte – 20 April 2016 – This review presents the author's personal perspective and contributions to the first steps, the development, the current status, and the remaining issues of pediatric liver transplantation (LT). Innumerable children around the world who have undergone LT have reached adulthood. The techniques have reached maturity. As shown by my own group's experience, grafts donated by living donors might provide the best short‐term and longterm results. Debate persists about the optimal immunosuppression (IS), although the place of tacrolimus remains unchallenged.

Modeling a human hepatocellular carcinoma subset in mice through coexpression of met and point‐mutant β‐catenin

Junyan Tao, Emily Xu, Yifei Zhao, Sucha Singh, Xiaolei Li, Gabrielle Couchy, Xin Chen, Jessica Zucman‐Rossi, Maria Chikina, Satdarshan P.S. Monga – 20 April 2016 – Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) remains a significant therapeutic challenge due to its poorly understood molecular basis. In the current study, we investigated two independent cohorts of 249 and 194 HCC cases for any combinatorial molecular aberrations. Specifically we assessed for simultaneous HMET expression or hMet activation and catenin β1 gene (CTNNB1) mutations to address any concomitant Met and Wnt signaling.

Intention‐to‐treat analysis of percutaneous endovascular treatment of hepatic artery stenosis after orthotopic liver transplantation

Muthukumarassamy Rajakannu, Sameh Awad, Oriana Ciacio, Gabriella Pittau, René Adam, Antonio Sa Cunha, Denis Castaing, Didier Samuel, Maïté Lewin, Daniel Cherqui, Eric Vibert – 20 April 2016 – Hepatic artery stenosis (HAS) is a rare complication of orthotopic liver transplantation (LT). HAS could evolve into complete thrombosis and lead to graft loss, incurring significant morbidity and mortality.

Randomized trial of 1‐week versus 2‐week intervals for endoscopic ligation in the treatment of patients with esophageal variceal bleeding

Sarah Sheibani, Saro Khemichian, John J. Kim, Linda Hou, Arthur W. Yan, James Buxbaum, Lily Dara, Loren Laine – 15 April 2016 – The appropriate interval between ligation sessions for treatment of esophageal variceal bleeding is uncertain. The optimal interval would provide variceal eradication as rapidly as possible to lessen early rebleeding while minimizing ligation‐induced adverse events. We randomly assigned patients hospitalized with acute esophageal variceal bleeding who had successful ligation at presentation to repeat ligation at 1‐week or 2‐week intervals.

Nonabsorbable disaccharides for hepatic encephalopathy: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Lise L. Gluud, Hendrik Vilstrup, Marsha Y. Morgan – 15 April 2016 – Nonabsorbable disaccharides (NADs) have been used to treat hepatic encephalopathy (HE) since 1966. However, a Cochrane Review, published in 2004, found insufficient evidence to recommend their use in this context. This updated systematic review evaluates the effects of the NADs, lactulose and lactitol, for the treatment and prevention of HE in patients with cirrhosis.

The toxin biliatresone causes mouse extrahepatic cholangiocyte damage and fibrosis through decreased glutathione and SOX17

Orith Waisbourd‐Zinman, Hong Koh, Shannon Tsai, Pierre‐Marie Lavrut, Christine Dang, Xiao Zhao, Michael Pack, Jeff Cave, Mark Hawes, Kyung A. Koo, John R. Porter, Rebecca G. Wells – 15 April 2016 – Biliary atresia, the most common indication for pediatric liver transplantation, is a fibrotic disease of unknown etiology affecting the extrahepatic bile ducts of newborns. The recently described toxin biliatresone causes lumen obstruction in mouse cholangiocyte spheroids and represents a new model of biliary atresia.

Liver transplantation in India

Gomathy Narasimhan, Venugopal Kota, Mohamed Rela – 15 April 2016 – Liver transplantation as an established form of treatment for end‐stage liver disease has gained acceptance in India over the last 10 years. Liver transplantation in India has unique features that have contributed to the growth of both deceased donor and living donor transplantations of which living donor currently dominates the picture. Living donor contributes to 80% and deceased donor to 20% of the liver transplants currently performed in India.

Can we prevent ischemic‐type biliary lesions in donation after circulatory determination of death liver transplantation?

Amelia J. Hessheimer, Andrés Cárdenas, Juan C. García‐Valdecasas, Constantino Fondevila – 15 April 2016 – The pool of livers for transplantation consists of an increasingly greater proportion of marginal grafts, in particular those arising through donation after circulatory determination of death (DCD). However, a primary factor limiting the use of marginal livers, and, thereby, the applicability of liver transplantation in general, is concern over the subsequent development of ischemic‐type biliary lesion (ITBL).

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