A randomized pilot trial of oral branched‐chain amino acids in early cirrhosis: Validation using prognostic markers for pre–liver transplant status

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.

Predictors of sustained virological response after antiviral treatment for hepatitis C recurrence following liver transplantation

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.

Infliximab treatment for steroid‐refractory acute graft‐versus‐host disease after orthotopic liver transplantation: A case report

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.

Quantification of liver perfusion by dynamic magnetic resonance imaging: Experimental evaluation and clinical pilot study

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).

Amiodarone pretreatment of organ donors exerts anti‐oxidative protection but induces excretory dysfunction in liver preservation and reperfusion

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.

Worse recent efficacy of antiviral therapy in liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C: Impact of donor age and baseline cirrhosis

Marina Berenguer, Victoria Aguilera, Martín Prieto, Cecilia Ortiz, Maria Rodríguez, Federica Gentili, Blas Risalde, Angel Rubin, Raquel Cañada, Antonio Palau, Jose‐Miguel Rayón – 26 June 2009 – We hypothesized that antiviral efficacy [sustained virologic response (SVR)] has improved in recent years in the transplant setting. Our aim was to assess whether the efficacy of pegylated interferon (PegIFN)–ribavirin (Rbv) has improved over time.

Impaired autophagic clearance after cold preservation of fatty livers correlates with tissue necrosis upon reperfusion and is reversed by hypothermic reconditioning

Thomas Minor, Judith Stegemann, Andreas Hirner, Martina Koetting – 26 June 2009 – Fatty livers are particularly susceptible to mitochondrial alterations after cold preservation. We thus aimed to improve graft integrity by brief hypothermic oxygenation prior to warm reperfusion. Macrovesicular steatosis was induced in rat livers by fasting and subsequent feeding of a fat‐free diet enriched with carbohydrates. Fatty livers were retrieved and stored ischemically at 4°C for 20 hours in histidine‐tryptophan‐ketoglutarate solution.

Survival after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma in the model for end‐stage liver disease and pre–model for end‐stage liver disease eras and the independent impact of hepatitis C virus

Paul J. Thuluvath, Anurag Maheshwari, Nimisha P. Thuluvath, Geoffrey C. Nguyen, Dorry L. Segev – 26 June 2009 – It has been suggested that hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may have worse outcomes after liver transplantation (LT) because of more aggressive tumor biology. In this study, we determined the post‐LT survival of HCC patients with and without HCV using United Network for Organ Sharing data from January 1994 to March 2008. Patients with HCC were stratified into HCV (HCC‐HCV) and non‐HCV (HCC–non‐HCV) groups.

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