D. Neil Roberts, Miguel R. Arguedas, Michael B. Fallon – 4 January 2007 – The hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is present in 15–20% of patients with cirrhosis undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) evaluation. Both preoperative and post‐OLT mortality is increased in HPS patients particularly when hypoxemia is severe. Screening for HPS could enhance detection of OLT candidates with sufficient hypoxemia to merit higher priority for transplant and thereby decrease mortality. However, the cost‐effectiveness of such an approach has not been assessed.

28 December 2006

Ying Luo, Chung Mau Lo, Cindy K. Cheung, George K. Lau, Sheung Tat Fan, John Wong – 27 December 2006 – Both animal and human studies have demonstrated the adoptive transfer of immunity against hepatitis B virus (HBV) through liver transplantation that may be attributed to the presence of HBV‐specific immunocompetent cells of donor origin in liver grafts.

Ye Htun Oo, James Neuberger – 27 December 2006

Jan Petrasek, Milan Jirsa, Jan Sperl, Libor Kozak, Pavel Taimr, Julius Spicak, Karel Filip, Pavel Trunecka – 27 December 2006 – Fulminant Wilson's disease (WD) is almost invariably fatal, and liver transplantation is the only life‐saving treatment. Decompensated chronic WD usually responds to chelation therapy. Our aim was to validate 3 published scoring systems for deciding between chelation treatment and liver transplantation in patients with chronic decompensated and fulminant WD.

Srinath Chinnakotla, Douglas M. Smith, Rana Domiati‐Saad, Edward D. Agura, David L. Watkins, George Netto, Tadahiro Uemura, Edmund Q. Sanchez, Marlon F. Levy, Goran B. Klintmalm – 27 December 2006 – Graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) after liver transplantation is rare but associated with a very high mortality (over 85%). Most treatments focus on increasing immunosuppression, addition of antibody preparations such as OKT3 and antithymocyte globulin to eliminate the donor lymphocytes, and supporting myelopoiesis by use of cytokines. However, the results are very poor.

James D. Perkins – 27 December 2006 – With improved survival after liver transplantation (LT), the referral of older candidates has increased. The increasing demand for, and the decreased supply of, liver donors makes careful preoperative cardiac risk assessment imperative. There is a paucity of information regarding the cardiac characteristics of patients being referred for LT in the current era.

Douglas M. Heuman, Anastasios A. Mihas, Adil Habib, HoChong S. Gilles, R. Todd Stravitz, Arun J. Sanyal, Robert A. Fisher – 27 December 2006 – Priority for “sickest first” liver transplantation (LT) in the United States is determined by the model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD). MELD is a good predictor of short‐term mortality in cirrhosis, but it can overestimate risk when international normalized ratio (INR) is artificially elevated by anticoagulation. An alternate prognostic index omitting INR is needed in this situation.

Daniel Shouval – 27 December 2006

Anna Conti, Simona Scala, Paola D'Agostino, Elena Alimenti, Daniele Morelli, Barbara Andria, Angela Tammaro, Chiara Attanasio, Floriana Della Ragione, Vincenzo Scuderi, Floriana Fabbrini, Maurizio D'Esposito, Ernesto Di Florio, Lucio Nitsch, Fulvio Calise, Antonio Faiella – 27 December 2006 – Ischemia‐reperfusion injury (IRI) causes up to 10% of early liver failures in humans and can lead to a higher incidence of acute and chronic rejection. So far, very few studies have investigated wide gene expression profiles associated with the IRI process.