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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Erin K. O'Neill, Sunana Sohi, Claire Smith, Joseph Ahn – 28 October 2009

Robert S. Brown – 28 October 2009

Shen Baiyong, Chen Bing, Zhang Weixia, Mao Huarong, Shen Chuan, Deng Xiaxing, Zhan Xi, Chen Hao – 28 October 2009 – Living‐donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been considered an alternative method for treatment of patients with end‐stage liver disease. However, the characteristics of pharmacokinetics of mycophenolic acid (MPA) in patients who underwent LDLT were not clear. This study was designed to compare the pharmacokinetics of MPA and its metabolites between LDLT patients and deceased donor liver transplant (DDLT) patients after oral administration of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).