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.

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.

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.

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.

C. Burcin Taner, Ilynn G. Bulatao, Andrew P. Keaveny, Darrin L. Willingham, Surakit Pungpapong, Dana K. Perry, Barry G. Rosser, Denise M. Harnois, Jaime Aranda ‐Michel, Justin H. Nguyen – 14 January 2011 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the most common indication for orthotopic liver transplantation in the United States. Although studies have addressed the use of expanded criteria donor organs in HCV+ patients, to date the use of liver grafts from donation after cardiac death (DCD) donors in HCV+ patients has been addressed by only a limited number of studies.

Natalie Bzowej, David R. Nelson, Norah A. Terrault, Gregory T. Everson, Lichen L. Teng, Avinash Prabhakar, Michael R. Charlton, for the PHOENIX Study Group – 14 January 2011 – The efficacy, tolerability, and safety of the prophylactic treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) after liver transplantation (LT) with peginterferon alfa‐2a and ribavirin are not known. LT recipients with HCV were randomized to peginterferon alfa‐2a/ribavirin treatment or observation 10 to 26 weeks post‐LT.

Caterina Dal Ponte, Elisa Alchera, Antonia Follenzi, Chiara Imarisio, Maria Prat, Emanuele Albano, Rita Carini – 14 January 2011 – Postconditioning is a procedure based on the induction of intracellular protective reactions immediately after the onset of reperfusion. Because of the growing need to prevent ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury during liver surgery and transplantation, we investigated the possibility of pharmacologically inducing hepatic postconditioning.

Omar Massoud, Julie Heimbach, Kimberly Viker, Anuradha Krishnan, John Poterucha, William Sanchez, Kymberly Watt, Russell Wiesner, Michael Charlton – 14 January 2011 – The diagnosis of acute cellular rejection (ACR) requires liver biopsy with its attendant expense and risk. Our first aim was to prospectively determine in an exploratory analysis whether there is a serum proteome signature associated with histologically confirmed ACR.

Ping Zhou, Nataly Lessa, Daniel C. Estrada, Ella B. Severson, Shilpa Lingala, Mark A. Zern, Jan A. Nolta, Jian Wu – 14 January 2011 – The transplantation of primary hepatocytes has been shown to augment the function of damaged livers and to bridge patients to liver transplantation. However, primary hepatocytes often have low levels of engraftment and survive for only a short time after transplantation. To explore the potential benefits of using decellularized liver matrix (DLM) as a carrier for hepatocyte transplantation, DLM from whole mouse livers was generated.

Alexandra Zahn, Nadja Schott, Ulf Hinz, Wolfgang Stremmel, Jan Schmidt, Tom Ganten, Daniel Gotthardt, Stefan Meuer, Martin Zeier, Thomas Giese, Claudia Sommerer – 14 January 2011 – Long‐term calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) treatment can cause serious side effects in liver allograft recipients. An optimal risk‐to‐benefit ratio for CNI blood levels has not been established. Pharmacodynamic drug monitoring through the measurement of the CNI biological activity, that is, the expression of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT)–regulated genes, seems to be a promising approach.