Lorenzo Norberto, Lino Polese, Umberto Cillo, Francesco Grigoletto, Andrew K. Burroughs, Daniele Neri, Giacomo Zanus, Patrizia Boccagni, Patrizia Burra, Davide F. D'Amico – 16 March 2007 – Whether beta‐blockers (BB) or banding is the best therapy for primary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding is subject to debate. A randomized comparison between the 2 treatments was performed in candidates for liver transplantation (LT). A total of 62 patients with Child‐Turcotte‐Pugh B‐C cirrhosis and high risk varices received propranolol (31) or variceal banding (31).

Radha K. Dhiman, Sanjay Jain, Uma Maheshwari, Ashish Bhalla, Navneet Sharma, Jasmina Ahluwalia, Ajay Duseja, Yogesh Chawla – 16 March 2007 – While King's Hospital Criteria (KCH) criteria are used worldwide, the Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) is a more recently developed scoring system that has been validated as an independent predictor of patient survival in conditions for liver transplantation (LT). The aim of the present study was to compare MELD and KCH criteria with other early clinical prognostic indicators (CPI) in a cohort of patients with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF).

Philippe Ichai, Jean‐Charles Duclos‐Vallée, Catherine Guettier, Sonia Ben Hamida, Theresa Antonini, Valérie Delvart, Faouzi Saliba, Daniel Azoulay, Denis Castaing, Didier Samuel – 16 March 2007 – Immunosuppressive therapy, and particularly corticosteroids with or without azathioprine, can achieve a remission in more than 80% of patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). By contrast, the usefulness of corticosteroid therapy in severe forms of AIH remains a subject of debate.

Luca S. Belli, Andrew K. Burroughs, Patrizia Burra, Alberto B. Alberti, Dimitrios Samonakis, Calogero Cammà, Luciano De Carlis, Ernesto Minola, Alberto Quaglia, Claudio Zavaglia, Marcello Vangeli, David Patch, Amar Dhillon, Umberto Cillo, Maria Guido, Stefano Fagiuoli, Alessandro Giacomoni, Omar A. Slim, Aldo Airoldi, Sara Boninsegna, Brian R. Davidson, Keith Rolles, Giovambattista Pinzello – 16 March 2007 – In recent years, a worsening outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐positive recipients and a faster progression of recurrent disease to overt cirrhosis has been reported.

Rafael Bañares, Eduardo Moitinho, Ana Matilla, Juan Carlos García‐Pagán, José Luis Lampreave, Carlos Piera, Juan G. Abraldes, Alejandro De Diego, Agustín Albillos, Jaime Bosch – 7 March 2007 – Short‐term carvedilol administration is more powerful than propranolol in decreasing hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) in cirrhotic patients, but induces arterial hypotension that may prevent its long‐term use in portal hypertensive patients. This study compared the HVPG reduction and safety of long‐term carvedilol and propranolol.

Hirayuki Enomoto, Kenya Yoshida, Yoshihiko Kishima, Taisei Kinoshita, Mitsunari Yamamoto, Allen D. Everett, Atsushi Miyajima, Hideji Nakamura – 7 March 2007 – Hepatoma‐derived growth factor (HDGF) is a heparin‐binding protein, which has been purified from the conditioned media of HuH‐7 hepatoma cells. Recent studies have suggested the involvement of HDGF in development of the kidney and cardiovascular systems. In the present study, we investigated the possibility that HDGF was also involved in liver development.

O Hermine, F Lefrere, Jp Bronowicki, X Mariette, K Jondeau, V Eclache‐Saudreau, B Delmas, F Valensi, P Cacoub, C Brechot, B Varet, X Troussard, Francesco Negro – 7 March 2007 – Some epidemiologic studies suggest a link between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and some B‐cell non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas. We undertook this study after a patient with splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes had a hematologic response after antiviral treatment of HCV infection.

7 March 2007

Zhi Hong – 7 March 2007

David R. Nelson, Zhengkun Tu, Consuelo Soldevila‐Pico, Manal Abdelmalek, Haizhen Zhu, Yi Ling Xu, Roniel Cabrera, Chen Liu, Gary L. Davis – 7 March 2007 – An imbalance in Th1 and Th2 cytokine production is implicated in disease progression of HCV. Our aim was to determine the effect of IL‐10 administration in patients with HCV‐related liver disease. Thirty patients with advanced fibrosis who had failed antiviral therapy were enrolled in a 12‐month treatment regimen with SQ IL‐10 given daily or thrice weekly. Liver biopsies were performed before and after therapy.