John C. LaMattina, Joshua D. Mezrich, Luis A. Fernandez, Anthony M. D'Alessandro, Janet M. Bellingham, Alexandru I. Musat, David P. Foley – 14 January 2011 – Although the use of donation after cardiac death (DCD) donor organs has been shown to be a viable option for liver and kidney transplant recipients, outcomes after simultaneous liver and kidney (SLK) transplantation using DCD donors are less clear. We performed a retrospective analysis of 37 adult, primary SLK transplants performed at our center between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2008.

Lena Sibulesky, Michael G. Heckman, Dana K. Perry, C. Burcin Taner, Darrin L. Willingham, Justin H. Nguyen – 14 January 2011 – Retransplantation is the only therapy for patients who have a failing liver graft, and it can be technically challenging. Although duct‐to‐duct (DD) biliary reconstruction is considered standard in deceased donor orthotopic whole organ liver transplantation, Roux‐en‐Y (RY) choledochojejunostomy is preferred by most for biliary reconstruction in retransplantation.

Qiuwei Pan, Suomi M. G. Fouraschen, Fatima S. F. Aerts Kaya, Monique M. Verstegen, Mario Pescatori, Andrew P. Stubbs, Wilfred van IJcken, Antoine van der Sloot, Ron Smits, Jaap Kwekkeboom, Herold J. Metselaar, Geert Kazemier, Jeroen de Jonge, Hugo W. Tilanus, Gerard Wagemaker, Harry L. A. Janssen, Luc J. W. van der Laan – 14 January 2011 – Extensive studies have demonstrated the potential applications of bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM‐MSCs) as regenerative or immunosuppressive treatments in the setting of organ transplantation.

Monika Hurtova, Dora Bachir, Ketty Lee, Julien Calderaro, Thomas Decaens, Michael D. Kluger, Elie Serge Zafrani, Daniel Cherqui, Ariane Mallat, Frédéric Galactéros, Christophe Duvoux – 14 January 2011 – Sickle cell disease (SCD) frequently affects the liver; if acute liver failure (ALF) develops, the only potentially effective therapeutic option is liver transplantation (LT). Only 12 patients for whom LT was performed for SCD‐related ALF have been described so far.

James Y. Findlay, Oren K. Fix, Catherine Paugam‐Burtz, Linda Liu, Puneet Sood, Stephen J. Tomlanovich, Jean Emond – 14 January 2011 – Patients with end‐stage liver disease awaiting liver transplantation frequently require intensive care admission and management due to either complications of liver failure or to intercurrent illness, particularly infection. Mortality in such patients is high and the development of an illness necessitating intensive care unit management can influence transplant candidacy.

Suk‐Bae Moon, Ju‐Ik Moon, Choon‐Hyuk David Kwon, Sung‐Joo Kim, Jeong‐Meen Seo, Jae‐Won Joh, Suk‐Koo Lee – 14 January 2011 – Right‐side rotation of the graft is an uncommon event after pediatric living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) with a left‐sided graft. However, graft rotation might lead to gradual portal vein (PV) stretching and late portal vein complications (PVCs). The goal of this study was to quantify the degree of graft rotation (R) by computed tomography (CT) and to determine the effect of graft rotation on the development of late PVCs.

Rachael Turner, Oswaldo Lozoya, Yunfang Wang, Vincenzo Cardinale, Eugenio Gaudio, Gianfranco Alpini, Gemma Mendel, Eliane Wauthier, Claire Barbier, Domenico Alvaro, Lola M. Reid – 12 January 2011 – Livers are comprised of maturational lineages of cells beginning extrahepatically in the hepato‐pancreatic common duct near the duodenum and intrahepatically in zone 1 by the portal triads.

Frank Tacke, Christian Trautwein – 12 January 2011 – In the classical form of alpha1‐antitrypsin (AT) deficiency, a point mutation in AT alters the folding of a liver‐derived secretory glycoprotein and renders it aggregation‐prone. In addition to decreased serum concentrations of AT, the disorder is characterized by accumulation of the mutant alpha1‐antitrypsin Z (ATZ) variant inside cells, causing hepatic fibrosis and/or carcinogenesis by a gain‐of‐toxic function mechanism. The proteasomal and autophagic pathways are known to mediate degradation of ATZ.

Diego F. Calvisi, Maria M. Simile, Sara Ladu, Maddalena Frau, Matthias Evert, Maria L. Tomasi, Maria I. Demartis, Lucia Daino, Maria A. Seddaiu, Stefania Brozzetti, Francesco Feo, Rosa M. Pascale – 12 January 2011 – Up‐regulation of the v‐Myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog‐like2 B‐Myb (MYBL2) gene occurs in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is associated with faster progression of rodent hepatocarcinogenesis.

Emilio Ramos, Léon Kautz, Richard Rodriguez, Michael Hansen, Victoria Gabayan, Yelena Ginzburg, Marie‐Paule Roth, Elizabeta Nemeth, Tomas Ganz – 12 January 2011 – In response to iron loading, hepcidin synthesis is homeostatically increased to limit further absorption of dietary iron and its release from stores. Mutations in HFE, transferrin receptor 2 (Tfr2), hemojuvelin (HJV), or bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6) prevent appropriate hepcidin response to iron, allowing increased absorption of dietary iron, and eventually iron overload.