Jennifer Tan, Bijal Surti, Sammy Saab – 30 July 2008 – As the treatment of cirrhosis improves, pregnancy in patients with cirrhosis is likely to become more common. Although maternal and fetal mortality is expected to similarly improve, pregnant patients with cirrhosis face unique risks. These include higher rates of spontaneous abortion and prematurity and a potential for life‐threatening variceal hemorrhage, hepatic decompensation, splenic artery aneurysm rupture, and postpartum hemorrhage.

Joanna A. Leithead, James W. Ferguson, Peter C. Hayes – 30 July 2008 – Smoking is the world's leading cause of premature mortality responsible for an estimated 5 million deaths each year. Although the negative health implications of cigarette smoking in the nontransplant setting are well recognized, the effect on patient and graft survival post liver transplantation remains unclear. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the influence of smoking on morbidity and mortality following liver transplantation.

Christian Toso, James Trotter, Alice Wei, David L. Bigam, Shimul Shah, Joshua Lancaster, David R. Grant, Paul D. Greig, A. M. James Shapiro, Norman M. Kneteman – 30 July 2008 – Criteria for the selection of candidates for liver transplantation in the presence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) should accurately predict posttransplant recurrence while not excluding excessive numbers of patients from candidacy. Existing criteria are challenged by the limited accuracy of radiological assessment. The total tumor volume (TTV) was calculated by the addition of the volume of each individual tumor.

Nikolaos Arkadopoulos, Demetrios Vlahakos, Georgia Kostopanagiotou, Dimitrios Panagopoulos, Eleni Karvouni, Christina Routsi, Konstantinos Kalimeris, Ioanna Andreadou, Evangelia Kouskouni, Vassilios Smyrniotis – 30 July 2008 – Oxidative mechanisms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of brain edema in acute liver failure (ALF). The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that inhibition of iron‐catalyzed oxidative reactions through iron chelation using deferoxamine could attenuate brain edema in a swine model of ischemic ALF.

Natasha S. Becker, Neal R. Barshes, Thomas A. Aloia, Tuan Nguyen, Javier Rojo, Joel A. Rodriguez, Christine A. O'Mahony, Saul J. Karpen, John A. Goss – 30 July 2008 – Two strategies to increase the donor allograft pool for pediatric orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are deceased donor segmental liver transplantation (DDSLT) and living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). The purpose of this study is to evaluate outcomes after use of these alternative allograft types.

Sasan Roayaie, Myron E. Schwartz – 30 July 2008

Sandy Feng – 30 July 2008

Chen Hao, Mao Anwei, Chen Bing, Shen Baiyong, Zhang Weixia, Shen Chuan, Chen Erzhen, Deng Xiaxing, Qiu Weihua, Yang Weiping, Peng Chenghong, Li Hongwei – 30 July 2008 – Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is a very powerful immunosuppressive drug used in preventing acute rejection in liver transplantation. However, MMF has some serious side effects, including hematologic and gastrointestinal disorders. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the clinical events and the pharmacokinetics of mycophenolic acid (MPA) in Chinese liver transplant recipients.

P. V. Suneetha, Ingmar Mederacke, Albert Heim, Murat Bastürk, Markus Cornberg, Christian P. Strassburg, Michael P. Manns, Heiner Wedemeyer – 30 July 2008

Kensuke Miyazaki, Mitsuhisa Takatsuki, Susumu Eguchi, Masaaki Hidaka, Hirotaka Tokai, Koji Hamasaki, Yoshitsugu Tajima, Takashi Kanematsu – 30 July 2008