Frank V. Schiødt, George Ostapowicz, Natalie Murray, Raj Satyanarana, Atif Zaman, Santiago Munoz, William M. Lee – 28 November 2006 – Serum concentrations of alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP), variably elevated during liver injury, have been suggested to be of prognostic importance in acute liver failure (ALF), higher values being associated with improved outcome. Using a nephelometric assay, we measured AFP in sera obtained on admission from 206 patients prospectively enrolled in the US ALF Study, and on day 3 in 162 of these patients.

Jeffrey D. Duman, Stephen P. Johnson, James F. Trotter – 28 November 2006

Ryosuke Tateishi, Shuichiro Shiina, Haruhiko Yoshida, Takuma Teratani, Shuntaro Obi, Noriyo Yamashiki, Hideo Yoshida, Masatoshi Akamatsu, Takao Kawabe, Masao Omata – 28 November 2006 – Three tumor markers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are available in daily practice in Japan: alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP), des‐gamma‐carboxy prothrombin (DCP), and lens culinaris agglutinin‐reactive fraction of alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP‐L3).

R. Palmer Beasley – 28 November 2006

Hanne Prytz, Susanne Keiding, Einar Björnsson, Ulrika Broomé, Sven Almer, Maria Castedal, Ole Lajord Munk, The Swedish Internal Medicine Liver Club – 28 November 2006 – Five to 15% of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) develop cholangiocarcinoma (CC) with a median survival of 5 to 7 months, an outcome not significantly improved by liver transplantation. However, if CC is found incidentally during the procedure or in the explanted liver, 5‐year survival rates of 35% are reported. A noninvasive method to detect CC small enough to allow for intended curative surgery is needed.

Hays L. Arnold, Stephen A. Harrison – 28 November 2006 – Helicobacter pylori (HP) eradication therapy is a useful treatment for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Some investigators have also reported the effects of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) monotherapy on ITP. We performed a randomized study of HP eradication therapy and PPI monotherapy on ITP. Four of nine patients achieved complete remission (CR), two of nine achieved partial remission (PR) in HP eradication therapy, three of eight achieved CR, and two of eight achieved PR in PPI monotherapy.

Rakesh Sindhi – 28 November 2006

Rekha Cheruvattath, Mauricio Orrego, Manjushree Gautam, Thomas Byrne, Shayan Alam, Marina Voltchenok, Mark Edwin, James Wilkens, James W. Williams, Hugo E. Vargas – 28 November 2006 – Vitamin A toxicity has been reported to cause severe liver disease and, occasionally, liver failure. Herein we present the case of a 60‐year‐old male with symptoms of muscle soreness, alopecia, nail dystrophy, and ascites. He continued to deteriorate with the development of refractory ascites, renal insufficiency, encephalopathy, and failure to thrive.

Vincenzo Mazzaferro, Raffaele Romito, Marcello Schiavo, Luigi Mariani, Tiziana Camerini, Sherrie Bhoori, Lorenzo Capussotti, Fulvio Calise, Riccardo Pellicci, Giulio Belli, Alessandro Tagger, Massimo Colombo, Ferruccio Bonino, Pietro Majno, Josep M. Llovet, HCC Italian Task Force – 28 November 2006 – Tumor recurrence after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can occur early (<2 years) or late (>2 years) as metastases or de novo tumors. Interferon (IFN) has the potential for chemoprevention against hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐related cirrhosis.

Elisabetta Bugianesi, Gulio Marchesini, Elena Gentilcore, Ian Homer Y. Cua, Ester Vanni, Mario Rizzetto, Jacob George – 28 November 2006 – Hepatic steatosis has been associated with fibrosis, but it is unknown whether the latter is independent of the etiology of fat infiltration.