Christine Kortsalioudaki, Rachel M. Taylor, Paul Cheeseman, Sanjay Bansal, Giorgina Mieli‐Vergani, Anil Dhawan – 27 December 2007 – Acute liver failure (ALF) carries a high mortality in children. N‐acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant agent that replenishes mitochondrial and cytosolic glutathione stores, has been used in the treatment of late acetaminophen‐induced ALF and non‐acetaminophen‐induced ALF. In our unit, NAC was introduced as additional treatment for non‐acetaminophen‐induced ALF in 1995.

Jacek B. Cywinski, Edward Mascha, Charles Miller, Bijan Eghtesad, Shunichi Nakagawa, Joseph P. Vincent, Nick Pesa, Jie Na, John J. Fung, Brian M. Parker – 27 December 2007 – Previous studies have shown that donor hypernatremia and possibly recipient hyponatremia negatively impact graft function after orthotopic liver transplant (OLT). The purpose of this retrospective investigation was to determine whether measured differences in serum sodium values between cadaveric donors and OLT recipients (ΔNa+) influence immediate postoperative allograft function and short‐term patient outcomes.

Ibrahim A. Hanouneh, Charles Miller, Federico Aucejo, Rocio Lopez, Mary Kay Quinn, Nizar N. Zein – 27 December 2007 – Sustained virologic response (SVR) in the treatment of recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection after liver transplantation (LT) remains suboptimal. We evaluated efficacy of pegylated interferon alfa (PEG) and ribavirin (RBV) (PEG/RBV) combination therapy in LT recipients with recurrent HCV and predictive values of rapid virological response (RVR) and early virologic response (EVR).

Federico N. Aucejo, Koji Hashimoto, Cristiano Quintini, Dympna Kelly, David Vogt, Charles Winans, Bijan Eghtesad, Mark Baker, John Fung, Charles Miller – 27 December 2007 – Ligation of portosystemic shunts in patients with cirrhosis undergoing liver transplantation has been recommended to avoid insufficient portal vein (PV) flow. Shunts are not always recognized pretransplantation because intraoperative PV flow assessment is not routinely attempted.

Alejandro Forner, Jordi Bruix – 27 December 2007

Hugo R. Rosen, Derek G. Doherty, Laura Madrigal‐Estebas, Cliona O'Farrelly, Lucy Golden‐Mason – 27 December 2007 – Cluster of differentiation (CD)56+ lymphocytes are believed to play important roles in the innate immune response to viral infections by production of interferon (IFN)‐γ and/or the recognition of virally infected cells, but their role in liver transplantation (LT) has not been characterized. Here, for the first time, we examine the phenotypic and functional features of these cells in patients undergoing LT for hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐related liver failure.

Vishal Bhagat, Julie A. Foont, Eugene R. Schiff, Arie Regev – 27 December 2007 – Spontaneous resolution of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is exceedingly rare and poorly understood. As HCV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have shared routes of transmission, HCV coinfection is estimated to affect 15%‐30% of the HIV‐positive population. We report 2 patients with HCV‐HIV coinfection who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation at our center and had spontaneous clearance of their chronic HCV infection after transplantation without any anti‐HCV treatment.

Evangelos Cholongitas, James O'Beirne, Alex Betrossian, Marco Senzolo, Steve Shaw, David Patch, Andrew K. Burroughs – 27 December 2007

Lisa I. Backus, Derek B. Boothroyd, Barbara R. Phillips, Larry A. Mole – 27 December 2007

Weiwei Shan, Christopher J. Nicol, Shinji Ito, Moses T. Bility, Mary J. Kennett, Jerrold M. Ward, Frank J. Gonzalez, Jeffrey M. Peters – 26 December 2007 – Potential functional roles for the peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐β/δ (PPARβ/δ) in skeletal muscle fatty acid catabolism and epithelial carcinogenesis have recently been described. Whereas PPARβ/δ is expressed in liver, its function in this tissue is less clear.