Medhat Askar, Robin Avery, Rebecca Corey, Rocio Lopez, Dawn Thomas, Diane Pidwell, Bijan Eghtesad, Charles Miller, John Fung, Nizar N. Zein – 28 October 2009 – Killer immunoglobulin‐like receptors (KIRs) expressed on natural killer and natural killer T cells are involved in activation of these cells and can influence antiviral immunity in the liver. This study investigated the association between KIR genetic diversity and sustained virologic response (SVR) to Peginterferon and Ribavirin (Peg/RBV) therapy in liver transplant (LT) recipients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence.

Olivier Boillot, Belhassen Seket, Jérôme Dumortier, Gabriella Pittau, Catherine Boucaud, Yves Bouffard, Jean‐Yves Scoazec – 28 October 2009 – This randomized, comparative study assessed the long‐term efficacy and tolerability of thymoglobulin (TMG) induction in 93 liver transplant patients with an initial regimen of tacrolimus (Tac), mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and steroids. Forty‐four patients were randomly allocated to the TMG+ group, and 49 patients were randomly allocated to the TMG− group.

John C. Bucuvalas, Ravinder Anand – 28 October 2009 – Immunoglobulin mitigates autoimmune disease and facilitates acceptance of ABO‐incompatible transplanted organs. To test the hypothesis that treatment with immunoglobulin is associated with improved graft survival and a decreased rate of allograft rejection, a cohort study of primary liver transplant recipients in the Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation registry was performed.

Daniel Seehofer, Armin Thelen, Ulf P. Neumann, Winfried Veltzke‐Schlieker, Timm Denecke, Carsten Kamphues, Johann Pratschke, Sven Jonas, Peter Neuhaus – 28 October 2009 – For patients with irresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma, liver transplantation (LT) is currently being reassessed because of promising data for neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy. For increased radicality, hepatectomy in combination with pancreatic head resection [extended bile duct resection (EBDR)] was performed for irresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma during our initial experience.

Michelle Carbonneau, Louise A. Jensen, Vincent G. Bain, Karen Kelly, Glenda Meeberg, Puneeta Tandon – 28 October 2009 – Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a leading indication for liver transplantation. Our center has randomly checked blood alcohol levels (BALs) in ALD patients on the waiting list since 2004. We aimed to identify the incidence and predictors of inactivation on the transplant list due to alcohol use and to determine the utility of BAL‐screening in this process.

Mario Traina, Ilaria Tarantino, Luca Barresi, Riccardo Volpes, Salvatore Gruttadauria, Ioannis Petridis, Bruno Gridelli – 28 October 2009 – After liver transplantation, the most common biliary complication is the anastomotic stricture, which is followed by biliary leakage. Studies have focused on the endoscopic treatment of biliary complications in transplanted patients with duct‐to‐duct reconstruction, showing a success rate of 70% to 80% after orthotopic liver transplantation and of 60% after living‐related liver transplantation.

Zuo‐Jin Liu, Jian‐Ping Gong, Lv‐Nan Yan – 28 October 2009 – The aim of this study was to derive a simple equation to enable the extent of hepatic macrovesicular steatosis (HMS) to be predicted quantitatively from data obtained noninvasively and hence avoid unnecessary liver biopsies. One hundred sixty‐seven potential living liver donors and 45 subjects suspected of having nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) underwent percutaneous liver biopsy to evaluate HMS quantitatively.

Sammy Saab, Melina Yeganeh, Kelvin Nguyen, Francisco Durazo, Steven Han, Hasan Yersiz, Douglas G. Farmer, Leonard I. Goldstein, Myron J. Tong, Ronald W. Busuttil – 28 October 2009 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reinfection and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are associated with increased graft failure and reduced patient survival. We evaluated the effects of both HCC recurrence and HBV reinfection on the long‐term survival of these patients after OLT.

Susan Holtzman, Lesley Adcock, Derek A. Dubay, George Therapondos, Arash Kashfi, Sarah Greenwood, Eberhard L. Renner, David R. Grant, Gary A. Levy, Susan E. Abbey – 28 October 2009 – The ability to inform prospective donors of the psychosocial risks of living liver donation is currently limited by the scant empirical literature. The present study was designed to examine donor perceptions of the impact of donation on financial, vocational, and interpersonal life domains and identify demographic and clinical factors related to longer recovery times and greater life interference.

Frank V. Schiødt, Raymond T. Chung, Michael L. Schilsky, J. Eileen Hay, Erik Christensen, William M. Lee – 28 October 2009 – Older age is considered a poor prognostic factor in acute liver failure (ALF) and may still be considered a relative contraindication for liver transplantation for ALF. We aimed to evaluate the impact of older age, defined as age ≥ 60 years, on outcomes in patients with ALF. One thousand one hundred twenty‐six consecutive prospective patients from the US Acute Liver Failure Study Group registry were studied. The median age was 38 years (range, 15–81 years).