Mohammed Reza Moussavian, Otto Kollmar, Michael Schmidt, Claudia Scheuer, Matthias Wagner, Jan Erik Slotta, Gernot Gronow, Christoph Justinger, Michael Dieter Menger, Martin Karl Schilling – 26 June 2009 – The continuous shortage of organs necessitates the use of marginal organs from donors with various diseases, including arrhythmia‐associated cardiac failure. One of the most frequently used anti‐arrhythmic drugs is amiodarone (AM), which is given in particular in emergency situations. Apart from its anti‐arrhythmic actions, AM provides anti‐oxidative properties in cardiomyocytes.

Christina Zapletal, Cosima Jahnke, Arianeb Mehrabi, Thomas Heß, David Mihm, Michaela Angelescu, Peter Stegen, Hamidreza Fonouni, Majid Esmaeilzadeh, Martha Maria Gebhard, Ernst Klar, Markus Golling – 26 June 2009 – Changes in liver microcirculation are considered essential in assessing ischemia‐reperfusion injury, which in turn has an impact on liver graft function and outcome following liver transplantation (LTx).

Gaël Piton, Fabrice Larosa, Anne Minello, Marie‐Claude Becker, Georges Mantion, François Aubin, Eric Deconinck, Patrick Hillon, Vincent Di Martino – 26 June 2009 – Acute graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) following orthotopic liver transplantation is a rare but severe disease with a 75% death rate in adults. Various therapeutic strategies have been proposed for steroid‐refractory GVHD, but there is still no consensus.

Matteo Cescon, Gian Luca Grazi, Alessandro Cucchetti, Gaetano Vetrone, Matteo Ravaioli, Giorgio Ercolani, Maria Cristina Morelli, Fabio Piscaglia, Mariarosa Tamè, Antonio Daniele Pinna – 26 June 2009 – Factors associated with sustained virological response (SVR) in patients treated for hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence after liver transplantation (LT) are unclear. Ninety‐nine HCV‐positive/hepatitis B surface antigen–negative patients received antiviral treatment (AVT) with interferon/peginterferon plus ribavirin for HCV recurrence after LT.

Etsushi Kawamura, Daiki Habu, Hiroyasu Morikawa, Masaru Enomoto, Joji Kawabe, Akihiro Tamori, Hiroki Sakaguchi, Shigeru Saeki, Norifumi Kawada, Susumu Shiomi – 26 June 2009 – Because of the chronic shortage of liver donors, hepatologists are required to prolong the liver transplant waiting period by preserving the hepatic reserve of scheduled recipients. This study examined the effectiveness of oral branched‐chain amino acids (BCAAs), using outcome markers indicating pretransplant hepatic reserve.

James D. Perkins – 26 June 2009

Nienke Warnaar, Susan V. Mallett, John R. Klinck, Marieke T. de Boer, Nancy Rolando, Andrew K. Burroughs, Neville V. Jamieson, Keith Rolles, Robert J. Porte – 26 June 2009 – Aprotinin is an antifibrinolytic drug that reduces blood loss during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Case reports have suggested that aprotinin may be associated with an increased risk of thromboembolic complications. Recent studies in cardiac surgery also have suggested a higher risk of renal failure and postoperative mortality.

Philip R. Roelandt, Johan Maertens, Peter Vandenberghe, Chris Verslype, Tania Roskams, Raymond Aerts, Frederik Nevens, Daan Dierickx – 26 June 2009 – Hepatosplenic γδ T‐cell lymphoma is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder originating from natural killer–like Vδ1‐lymphocytes. This subtype has been described after different types of solid organ transplants. In this article, we describe the first 2 cases after liver transplantation.

Atsushi Takebe, Harald Schrem, Bastian Ringe, Frank Lehner, Christian Strassburg, Juergen Klempnauer, Thomas Becker – 26 June 2009 – Split liver transplantation (SLT) is clearly beneficial for pediatric recipients. However, the increased risk of biliary complications in adult recipients of SLT in comparison with whole liver transplantation (WLT) remains controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence and clinical outcome of biliary complications in an SLT group using split extended right grafts (ERGs) after ex situ splitting in comparison with WLT in adults.

Geoffrey C. Nguyen, Nimisha P. Thuluvath, Dorry L. Segev, Paul J. Thuluvath – 26 June 2009 – Partial hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a high‐risk procedure, especially in the presence of portal hypertension. We assessed whether the volume of hospital liver transplant procedures was associated with lower in‐hospital mortality independently of the volume of partial hepatectomy procedures.