Stuart C Gordon, Eduardo Bruno Martins, Leland J. Yee – 21 October 2013

Jaana Helenius‐Hietala, Hellevi Ruokonen, Lisa Grönroos, Harri Rissanen, Miira M. Vehkalahti, Liisa Suominen, Helena Isoniemi, Jukka H. Meurman – 18 October 2013 – Immunosuppressive drugs and other medications may predispose patients to oral diseases. Data on oral mucosal health in recipients of liver transplantation (LT) are limited. We, therefore, recruited 84 LT recipients (64 with chronic liver disease and 20 with acute liver failure) for clinical oral examinations in a cross‐sectional, case‐control study. Their oral health had been clinically examined before transplantation.

Alexander R. Bonnel, Chalermrat Bunchorntavakul, K. Rajender Reddy – 18 October 2013 – The insertion of a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is a minimally invasive procedure used to relieve the signs and symptoms of portal hypertension in patients with liver disease. The most common indications for placement are refractory ascites and variceal hemorrhage. In properly selected candidates, TIPS placement can serve as a bridge to liver transplantation.

Ahmed H. Elaffandi, Glenn K. Bonney, Bridget Gunson, Irene Scalera, Hynek Mergental, John R. Isaac, Simon R. Bramhall, Darius F. Mirza, M. Thamara P.R. Perera, Paolo Muiesan – 18 October 2013 – Donor warm ischemia has implications for outcomes after liver transplantation (LT) using organs from donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors. Prehospital cardiac arrest (PHCA) before donation may generate a further ischemic insult. The aim of this single‐center study of 108 consecutive DCD LT procedures was to compare the outcomes of PHCA and non‐PHCA cohorts.

Zhiwei Li, Zhenhua Hu, Jie Xiang, Jie Zhou, Sheng Yan, Jian Wu, Lin Zhou, Shusen Zheng – 18 October 2013 – The scarcity of available donor organs is the key challenge in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). A viable way of expanding the donor pool is the use of liver grafts from hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)–positive donors.

Peter L. Abt, Jens Praestgaard, Sharon West, Richard Hasz – 18 October 2013 – Obligatory exposure to a period of warm ischemia is the defining feature of liver allografts from donation after cardiac death (DCD) donors. We explored novel methods for characterizing the dynamic aspects of donor warm ischemia that might be useful in assessing organ quality. The hemodynamic profile during donor warm ischemia was retrospectively studied for 110 Maastricht category III DCD donors.

Ashley Walther, James Geller, Abigail Coots, Alexander Towbin, Jaimie Nathan, Maria Alonso, Rachel Sheridan, Greg Tiao – 18 October 2013 – The outcomes of hepatic undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma (HUES) have historically been limited by persistent, unresectable disease and the subsequent development of disease resistance and dissemination. We present our institutional experience with HUES and assess current treatment trends and outcomes in the era of liver transplantation. We conducted a retrospective chart review of cases presenting with HUES at our institution over the past 10 years.

Dhruv Nayyar, H. S. Jeffrey Man, John Granton, Samir Gupta – 18 October 2013 – Hepatopulmonary syndrome is defined as a triad of liver disease, intrapulmonary vascular dilatations, and abnormal gas exchange, and it carries a poor prognosis. Liver transplantation is the only known cure for this syndrome. Severe hypoxemia in the early postoperative period has been reported to be a major complication and often leads to death in this population, but it has been poorly characterized.

Gabriel C. Oniscu, Geraldine Diaz, Josh Levitsky – 17 October 2013 – The International Liver Transplantation Society held its annual meeting from June 12 to 15 in Sydney, Australia. More than 800 registrants attended the congress, which opened with a conference celebrating 50 years of liver transplantation (LT). The program included series of featured symposia, focused topic sessions, and oral and poster presentations. This report is by no means all‐inclusive and focuses on specific abstracts on key topics in LT.

Emily R. Perito, Sue Rhee, John Paul Roberts, Philip Rosenthal – 17 October 2013 – Decision making concerning liver transplantation is unique for children with urea cycle disorders (UCDs) and organic acidemias (OAs) because of their immediate high priority on the waiting list, which is not related to the severity of their disease. There are limited national outcome data on which recommendations about liver transplantation for UCDs or OAs can be based.