Karina Rando, Claus U. Niemann, Pilar Taura, John Klinck – 11 August 2011 – Although liver transplantation (LT) is a highly effective treatment, it has been considered too costly for publicly funded health systems in many countries with low to medium average incomes. However, with economic growth and improving results, some governments are reconsidering this position. Cost‐effectiveness data for LT are limited, especially in perioperative care, and the techniques and costs vary widely between centers without overt differences in outcomes.

Timothy R. Bates, Barry D. Lewis, John R. Burnett, Kenji So, Andrew Mitchell, Luc Delriviere, Gary P. Jeffrey – 11 August 2011 – Urea cycle disorders (UCDs) are rare causes of hyperammonemic encephalopathy in adults. Most UCDs present in childhood and, if unrecognized, are rapidly fatal. Affected individuals who survive to adulthood may remain undiagnosed because of clinicians' unawareness of the condition or atypical presentations. We describe the case of a 49‐year‐old man who initially presented with a stroke and developed hyperammonemic encephalopathy over a period of 8 months.

Ana Moreno – 11 August 2011

Domingo Balderramo, Andres Cardenas – 11 August 2011

Isabel Aguilera, Antonio Núñez‐Roldán – 11 August 2011

Jae Berm Park, Jae‐Won Joh, Sung‐Joo Kim, Choon‐Hyuck David Kwon, Jae Min Chun, Jong Man Kim, Ju Ik Moon, Suk‐Koo Lee – 11 August 2011 – To evaluate the effects of intermittent hepatic inflow occlusion (IHIO) during donor hepatectomy for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in recipients and donors, we performed a single‐center, open‐label, prospective, parallel, randomized controlled study. Adult donor‐recipient pairs undergoing LDLT with right hemiliver grafts were randomized into IHIO and control groups (1:1). In the IHIO group, IHIO was performed during donor hepatectomy.

John R. Senior, W. Thomas London, Alton I. Sutnick – 1 August 2011 – Baruch Blumberg, who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the Australia antigen, died on April 5, 2011. Arguably, that discovery has been the most important advance in the field of Hepatology. It led to the virtual elimination of transfusion related hepatitis B in most parts of the world and was essential to the identification of hepatitis A, C, D and E viruses. Credit for this is due Dr. Blumberg and teams in Philadelphia and Tokyo. In lieu of an Associate Editor commentary, Drs.

Katharina Staufer, Hilke Andresen, Eik Vettorazzi, Niels Tobias, Bjoern Nashan, Martina Sterneck – 1 August 2011 – Optimal selection of liver transplant candidates and early detection of alcohol relapse after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is necessary to improve long‐term outcomes. In this study, urinary ethyl glucuronide (uEtG) was prospectively evaluated as a novel screening tool for alcohol detection in the transplant setting. Overall, 141 liver transplant candidates and recipients, visiting the outpatient clinic for a total of 308 times, were included.

Michele Miragoli, Siti H. Sheikh Abdul Kadir, Mary N. Sheppard, Nicoló Salvarani, Matilda Virta, Sarah Wells, Max J. Lab, Viacheslav O. Nikolaev, Alexey Moshkov, William M. Hague, Stephan Rohr, Catherine Williamson, Julia Gorelik – 1 August 2011 – Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy may be complicated by fetal arrhythmia, fetal hypoxia, preterm labor, and, in severe cases, intrauterine death. The precise etiology of fetal death is not known. However, taurocholate has been demonstrated to cause arrhythmia and abnormal calcium dynamics in cardiomyocytes.

Julie K. Heimbach, Russell H. Wiesner – 28 July 2011