Hepatocyte transplantation in animal models

Anne Weber, Marie‐Thérèse Groyer‐Picard, Dominique Franco, Ibrahim Dagher – 24 December 2008 – More than 30 years after the first hepatocyte transplant to treat the Gunn rat, the animal model for Crigler‐Najjar syndrome, there are still a number of impediments to hepatocyte transplantation. Numerous animal models are still used in work aimed at improving hepatocyte engraftment and/or long‐term function.

Long‐term antiviral therapy for recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation in nonresponders: Biochemical, virological, and histological impact

Thomas Walter, Jean‐Yves Scoazec, Olivier Guillaud, Valérie Hervieu, Philippe Chevallier, Olivier Boillot, Jérôme Dumortier – 24 December 2008 – More than 50% of patients with a recurrent posttransplant hepatitis C virus infection fail to respond to antiviral treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the interest of a long‐term antiviral treatment maintained for more than 48 weeks. Seventy treated patients, with a histological follow‐up > 1 year, were enrolled in this observational, retrospective study.

Health‐related quality of life and employment status of liver transplant patients

Fredrik Åberg, Anne M. Rissanen, Harri Sintonen, Risto P. Roine, Krister Höckerstedt, Helena Isoniemi – 24 December 2008 – Health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) is one preferable outcome measure of medical interventions such as liver transplantation (LT). The aim of this study was to compare HRQoL of LT patients with that of the general population and to assess the employment status of LT patients. HRQoL was measured with the 15D instrument, a validated, non–disease‐specific, 15‐dimensional, self‐administered HRQoL instrument.

Side‐to‐side cavocavostomy with an endovascular stapler: Rescue technique for severe hepatic vein and/or inferior vena cava outflow obstruction after liver transplantation using the piggyback technique

Cristiano Quintini, Charles M. Miller, Koji Hashimoto, Ding Philip, Teresa Diago Uso, Federico Aucejo, Dympna Kelly, Charles Winans, Bijan Eghtesad, David Vogt, John Fung – 24 December 2008 – Venous outflow obstruction is a rare but potentially lethal complication after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) with the “piggyback” technique. Therapeutic options include angioplasty with or without stent placement, surgical reconstruction of the venous anastomosis, and retransplantation. Surgical options are technically very challenging and the outcomes discouraging.

Sildenafil monotherapy in portopulmonary hypertension can facilitate liver transplantation

Anna R. Hemnes, Ivan M. Robbins – 24 December 2008 – Portopulmonary hypertension (POPH), or pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with cirrhosis, carries a high mortality and often precludes liver transplantation. Many POPH patients have preserved or increased cardiac output; therefore, decreasing pulmonary artery pressure rather than improving cardiac output is more important in reducing liver transplant risk, and this makes sildenafil an attractive therapeutic option. We assessed the clinical response of patients with POPH treated with sildenafil monotherapy.

Subscribe to