Andrew L. Mason, Karen Doucette, Gane Ka‐Shu Wong – 9 June 2008

Christophe Corpechot, Ludovico Abenavoli, Nabila Rabahi, Yves Chrétien, Tony Andréani, Catherine Johanet, Olivier Chazouillères, Raoul Poupon – 30 May 2008 – Biochemical response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is variable. It has been recently proposed that an alkaline phosphatase (ALP) decline of more than 40% in baseline value or a normal level after 1 year of UDCA treatment (Barcelona criteria) could serve as a good marker of long‐term prognosis.

Vijayan Balan, Kris Ruppert, A. Jake Demetris, Tatiana Ledneva, Rene J. Duquesnoy, Katherine M. Detre, Yuling L. Wei, Jorge Rakela, Daniel F. Schafer, John P. Roberts, James E. Everhart, Russell H. Wiesner – 30 May 2008 – A perfect or nearly perfect human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match has been associated with better immediate and long‐term survival of diseased donor kidney transplants. However, the effect of HLA matching for hepatic allografts remains poorly defined.

Shinichiro Hanada, Pavel Strnad, Elizabeth M. Brunt, M. Bishr Omary – 30 May 2008 – Mallory‐Denk bodies (MDBs) are hepatocyte inclusions found in several liver diseases and consist primarily of keratins 8 and 18 (K8/K18) and ubiquitin that are cross‐linked by transglutaminase‐2. We hypothesized that genetic variables contribute to the extent of MDB formation, because not all patients with an MDB‐associated liver disease develop inclusions.

Anna Ludovica Fracanzani, Luca Valenti, Elisabetta Bugianesi, Marco Andreoletti, Agostino Colli, Ester Vanni, Cristina Bertelli, Erika Fatta, Daniela Bignamini, Giulio Marchesini, Silvia Fargion – 30 May 2008 – It is uncertain whether patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) have a milder disease and should undergo liver biopsy.

Shin Hwang, Sung‐Gyu Lee, Chul‐Soo Ahn, Ki‐Hun Kim, Deok‐Bog Moon, Tae‐Yong Ha, Gi‐Won Song, Dong‐Hwan Jung, Jung‐Ik Park, Je‐Ho Ryu, Hyo‐Jun Lee, Dong‐Jin Suh, Young‐Suk Lim – 28 May 2008 – The prevention of hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence is essential after liver transplantation in patients infected with HBV. We evaluated the efficacy of primary high‐dose hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) monotherapy and rescue antiviral therapy in 639 HBV‐infected adult patients who underwent living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) between February 1997 and December 2004.

Moshe Israeli, Tirza Klein, Benjamin Sredni, Yaron Avitzur, Eitan Mor, Nathan Bar‐Nathen, Ran Steinberg, Gabriel Dinari, Rivka Shapiro – 28 May 2008 – Lifelong immunosuppression is mandatory for optimal graft and patient survival following liver transplantation. Nevertheless, graft rejection or numerous adverse events associated with overimmunosuppression or underimmunosuppression cannot be completely avoided. The ImmuKnow assay measures cell‐mediated immunity and is able to discern between conditions of overimmunosuppression and underimmunosuppression.

Daniel Benten, Martina Sterneck, Jens Panse, Xavier Rogiers, Ansgar W. Lohse – 28 May 2008 – The incidence of de novo malignancies is increased in organ transplant recipients, and patients with hepatic carcinomas are at high risk for tumor recurrence after liver transplantation. Data about recurrent cancer after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in patients with a history of nonhepatic malignancy are very limited. We retrospectively analyzed data from 606 adult OLT recipients and identified 37 patients (6.1%) with a preexisting extrahepatic malignancy.

28 May 2008

Vicente Arroyo, Javier Fernandez, Antoni Mas, Angels Escorsell – 28 May 2008