An integrated MELD model including serum sodium and age improves the prediction of early mortality in patients with cirrhosis

Angelo Luca, Berhard Angermayr, Guido Bertolini, Franz Koenig, Giovanni Vizzini, Martin Ploner, Markus Peck‐Radosavljevic, Bruno Gridelli, Jaime Bosch – 30 July 2007 – The Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) is widely used to predict the short‐term mortality in patients with cirrhosis, but potential limitations of this score have been reported. The aim of this study was to improve the score's prognostic accuracy by assessing new objective variables.

The impact of serum sodium concentration on mortality after liver transplantation: A cohort multicenter study

Muhammad F. Dawwas, James D. Lewsey, James M. Neuberger, Alexander E. Gimson – 30 July 2007 – Modification of the current allocation system for donor livers in the United States to incorporate recipient serum sodium concentration ([Na]) has recently been proposed. However, the impact of this parameter on posttransplantation mortality has not been previously examined in a large risk‐adjusted analysis.

Histidine‐tryptophan‐ketoglutarate solution vs. University of Wisconsin solution for liver transplantation: A systematic review

Li Feng, Na Zhao, Xun Yao, Xin Sun, Liang Du, Xiang Diao, Shengfu Li, Youping Li – 30 July 2007 – University of Wisconsin (UW) solution has been recognized as the gold standard in liver preservation, but its limitations are becoming obvious, such as risk of biliary complications and its high cost. Alternatively, the effects of histidine‐tryptophan‐ketoglutarate (HTK), such as improved biliary protection and low cost, have been observed. This systematic review is conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of these 2 solutions. Databases from 1966 to June 2006 were searched.

Intraoperative stent placement in the portal vein during or after liver transplantation

Yong‐Jae Kim, Gi‐Young Ko, Hyun‐Ki Yoon, Ji‐Hoon Shin, Heung‐Kyu Ko, Kyu‐Bo Sung – 30 July 2007 – The purpose of this research was to evaluate the intermediate effectiveness of intraoperative portal vein stent placement for portal venous stenosis in liver transplantation. We attempted intraoperative portal vein stent placement in 44 portal venous anastomotic stenoses in 36 patients. All patients underwent stent placement via either the inferior or superior mesenteric vein.

Hepatitis C virus quasispecies in HIV‐infected women: Role of injecting drug use and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)

Tomasz Laskus, Jeffrey Wilkinson, Roksana Karim, Wendy Mack, Marek Radkowski, Marina deGiacomo, Jonathan Nasseri, Zhi Chen, Jiaao Xu, Andrea Kovacs – 27 July 2007 – Despite the high frequency of HCV and HIV coinfection, little is known about HCV quasispecies in HIV‐positive patients. The current analysis included 236 HIV+/anti‐HCV+ women enrolled in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). Hypervariable region 1 of the second envelope gene was analyzed by single‐strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP).

A modified international normalized ratio as an effective way of prothrombin time standardization in hepatology

Laurent Bellest, Valérie Eschwège, Raoul Poupon, Olivier Chazouillères, Annie Robert – 27 July 2007 – International Normalized Ratio (INR), which standardizes prothrombin time (PT) during oral anticoagulation, has been extended to standardize PT in liver diseases and is included in prognostic models such as the Model for End stage Liver Disease (MELD). However, mechanisms of PT prolongation in liver diseases differ from those involved in oral anticoagulation, and the thromboplastin reagents differ in their sensitivities to these 2 mechanisms.

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