Calogero Cammà, Salvatore Petta, Vito Di Marco, Fabrizio Bronte, Stefania Ciminnisi, Giusalba Licata, Sergio Peralta, Fabio Simone, Giulio Marchesini, Antonio Craxì – 28 December 2008 – Indirect methods to predict the presence of esophageal varices (EV) in patients with cirrhosis are not sensitive enough to be used as a surrogate for endoscopy. We tested the effectiveness of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography and the presence of insulin resistance (IR), a marker associated with fibrosis progression, in the noninvasive prediction of portal hypertension.

Nancy Leung, Cheng‐Yuan Peng, Hie‐Won Hann, Jose Sollano, Judy Lao‐Tan, Chao‐Wei Hsu, Laurentius Lesmana, Man‐Fung Yuen, Lennox Jeffers, Morris Sherman, Albert Min, Kimberly Mencarini, Ulysses Diva, Anne Cross, Richard Wilber, Juan Lopez‐Talavera – 28 December 2008 – This study was undertaken to compare the early antiviral activity and viral kinetic profiles of entecavir (ETV) versus adefovir (ADV) in hepatitis B e antigen positive nucleoside‐naïve adults with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

Robert T. Russell, Irene D. Feurer, Panarut Wisawatapnimit, C. Wright Pinson – 24 December 2008 – Health utility instruments assess patients' valuation of specific health states, which can be converted to quality‐adjusted life years for cost‐utility analysis. Data from the EQ‐5D, a generic health‐related quality of life questionnaire from EuroQoL, can be reported as 5 health status scores or as a single health preference weight (HPW). US population–based HPWs were published by Shaw and colleagues in 2005 (Med Care 2005;43:203‐220).

Olivier de Rougemont, Philipp Dutkowski, Markus Weber, Pierre‐Alain Clavien – 24 December 2008 – On the basis of the growing evidence from randomized trials that routine prophylactic drainage is unnecessary in liver surgery or even harmful in chronic liver disease, we challenged the concept of prophylactic drainage in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Since September 2006, we omitted drains in every patient who underwent OLT, regardless of the procedure. Thirty‐five cadaveric OLTs were performed during a 12‐month period.

Walid M. El Moghazy, Mohammed S. Hedaya, Toshimi Kaido, Hiroto Egawa, Shinji Uemoto, Yasutsugu Takada – 24 December 2008 – The aim of this study was to compare the Cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator (CUSA) with bipolar cautery (BP) to CUSA with a radiofrequency coagulator [TissueLink (TL)] in terms of efficacy and safety for hepatic transection in living donor liver transplantation. Twenty‐four living liver donors (n = 12 for each group) were randomized to undergo hepatic transection using CUSA with BP or CUSA with TL.

Nevin Yilmaz, Mitchell L. Shiffman – 24 December 2008

Shintaro Yamazaki, Tadatoshi Takayama, Kazuto Inoue, Tokio Higaki, Masatoshi Makuuchi – 24 December 2008

Derek R. Townsend, Sean M. Bagshaw, Michael J. Jacka, David Bigam, Dominic Cave, R. T. Noel Gibney – 24 December 2008 – Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in liver failure prior to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and may complicate the intraoperative course. We describe the logistics of intraoperative continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) during OLT and the associated clinical outcomes.

Mariapia Vairetti, Andrea Ferrigno, Filippo Carlucci, Antonella Tabucchi, Vittoria Rizzo, Eleonora Boncompagni, Daniele Neri, Enrico Gringeri, Isabel Freitas, Umberto Cillo – 24 December 2008 – We tested whether rat liver preservation performed by machine perfusion (MP) at 20°C can enhance the functional integrity of steatotic livers versus simple cold storage. We also compared MP at 20°C with hypothermic MP at 8°C, and 4°C. Obese and lean male Zucker rats were used as liver donors. MP was performed for 6 hours with a glucose and N‐acetylcysteine–supplemented Krebs‐Henseleit solution.

Victoria Aguilera, Marina Berenguer, Angel Rubín, Fernando San‐Juan, Jose‐Miguel Rayón, Martín Prieto, José Mir – 24 December 2008 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐related liver disease is enhanced by alcohol consumption. Of HCV‐related liver transplantation (LT) recipients, 25% have a history of alcohol intake. The purpose of this research was to determine whether LT outcome differs between patients with cirrhosis of mixed etiology compared to HCV or alcohol alone.