Nathan A. Johnson, Toos Sachinwalla, Jacob George – 8 July 2008

Denise Herzog, Dorothée Bouron‐Dal Soglio, Jean‐Christophe Fournet, Steven Martin, Denis Marleau, Fernando Alvarez – 25 June 2008 – Chronic graft dysfunction, manifesting with elevated liver enzymes and histological features of interface hepatitis (IH), is being increasingly recognized as a long‐term problem after liver transplantation. The aim of this study was to characterize our group of post–orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) patients with respect to clinical, laboratory, and histological signs of IH.

Ilona T. A. Pereboom, Ton Lisman, Robert J. Porte – 25 June 2008 – Apart from the well‐known role of blood platelets in hemostasis, there is emerging evidence that platelets have various nonhemostatic properties that play a critical role in inflammation, angiogenesis, tissue repair and regeneration, and ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. All these processes may be involved in the (patho)physiological alterations occurring in patients undergoing liver transplantation.

Cristiano Quintini, Federico Aucejo, Charles M. Miller – 25 June 2008

Geoffrey M. Fleming, Timothy T. Cornell, Theodore H. Welling, John C. Magee, Gail M. Annich – 25 June 2008 – Hepatopulmonary syndrome is an uncommon complication of nonacute liver failure, and in rare cases, hypoxia may be the presenting sign of liver dysfunction. The condition, once thought to be a contraindication, is improved in most cases by transplantation. There is a significant risk of postoperative, hypoxia‐related morbidity and mortality in patients with hepatopulmonary syndrome.

Yasutsugu Takada, Takashi Ito, Yoshihide Ueda, Hironori Haga, Hiroto Egawa, Koichi Tanaka, Shinji Uemoto – 25 June 2008 – Response rates to interferon and ribavirin treatment for recipients with recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are suboptimal, particularly for those with genotype 1b and high viral load. The present study evaluated the effects of combining double‐filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) with pharmacotherapy using interferon plus ribavirin after living donor liver transplantation.

Andre M. De Wolf – 25 June 2008

Kyung Rae Kim, Gi‐Young Ko, Kyu‐Bo Sung, Hyun‐Ki Yoon, Ji Hoon Shin, Ho‐Young Song, Je‐Ho Ryu, Shin Hwang, Sung‐Gyu Lee, Eunsil Yu – 25 June 2008 – Transjugular liver biopsy (TJLB) is an alternative method of pathological diagnosis in patients with an established contraindication to percutaneous biopsy. Between November 2005 and July 2007, 111 TJLBs were attempted in 67 patients and 95 percutaneous liver biopsies (PCLBs) were attempted in 51 patients with living donor liver transplantation suspected of having rejection.

Bai‐Chuan Su, Huang‐Ping Yu, Ming‐Wen Yang, Chih‐Chung Lin, Ming‐Chang Kao, Chia‐Hung Chang, Wei‐Chen Lee – 25 June 2008 – The ultrasonic cardiac output monitor (USCOM) is a new Doppler device for noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring. The aim of this prospective nonrandomized study was to test the feasibility, perioperative reliability, and clinical applicability of using USCOM as an alternative to pulmonary artery catheterization in recipients of living donor liver transplantation. Thirteen patients scheduled to receive living donor liver transplants were initially recruited.

Tomoharu Yoshizumi, Akinobu Taketomi, Hideaki Uchiyama, Noboru Harada, Hiroto Kayashima, Yo‐Ichi Yamashita, Yuji Soejima, Mitsuo Shimada, Yoshihiko Maehara – 25 June 2008 – No reliable model for predicting early graft function and patient survival after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) exists. The aim of this study was to establish a new formula for predicting early graft function and prognosis using technetium‐99m galactosyl‐human serum albumin (Tc‐GSA) liver scintigraphy.