Christophe Corpechot, Ahmed El Naggar, Armelle Poujol‐Robert, Marianne Ziol, Dominique Wendum, Olivier Chazouillères, Victor de Lédinghen, Daniel Dhumeaux, Patrick Marcellin, Michel Beaugrand, Raoul Poupon – 20 April 2006 – Noninvasive measurement of liver stiffness with transient elastography has been recently validated for the evaluation of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C. The current study assessed the diagnostic performance of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) for the determination of fibrosis stage in chronic cholestatic diseases.

Carlo Giannini, Francesca Giannelli, Anna Linda Zignego – 20 April 2006

Sanaa M. Kamal, Khairy N. Moustafa, Jason Chen, Jutta Fehr, Azza Abdel Moneim, Khalifa E. Khalifa, Leila A. El Gohary, Amr H. Ramy, Mohamed A. Madwar, Jens Rasenack, Nezam H. Afdhal – 20 April 2006 – Spontaneous resolution of acute hepatitis C virus infection cannot be predicted, and chronic evolution of the disease occurs in a majority of cases. To assess the efficacy and safety of peginterferon alpha‐2b administered for 8, 12, or 24 weeks in patients with acute hepatitis C virus infection a total of 161 patients were identified with acute hepatitis C virus infection.

Tsutomu Fujii, Shuji Nomoto, Katsumi Koshikawa, Yasushi Yatabe, Osamu Teshigawara, Toshiaki Mori, Soichiro Inoue, Shin Takeda, Akimasa Nakao – 20 April 2006 – The pituitary tumor transforming gene 1 (PTTG1) protein is cell‐cycle regulated and is identified as a human securin that inhibits sister chromatid separation and is involved in transformation and tumorigenesis. PTTG1 has very low or undetectable expression in most normal human tissues, but it is abundantly expressed in malignant cell lines and pituitary tumors.

Józefa Wesierska‐Gadek, Edward Penner, Pier Maria Battezzati, Carlo Selmi, Massimo Zuin, Eva Hitchman, Howard J. Worman, M. Eric Gershwin, Mauro Podda, Pietro Invernizzi – 20 April 2006 – Although there have been significant advances in understanding the clinical and biochemical features of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), there is still a paucity of data on the usefulness of biomarkers as prognostic indicators. This is particularly important at the time of initial diagnosis.

Helen M. Evans, Deirdre A. Kelly, Patrick J. McKiernan, Stefan Hübscher – 20 April 2006 – The long‐term histological outcome after pediatric liver transplantation (OLT) is not yet fully understood. De novo autoimmune hepatitis, consisting of histological chronic hepatitis associated with autoantibody formation and allograft dysfunction, is increasingly recognized as an important complication of liver transplantation, particularly in the pediatric population.

Marlène Dreux, Francois‐Loïc Cosset – 20 April 2006

Jay H. Hoofnagle, Megan E. Miller – 20 April 2006

Kyuhyun Lee, Sung‐Tae Yun, Young‐Gun Kim, Yeup Yoon, Eui‐Cheol Jo – 20 April 2006 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) constitutes more than 90% of all primary liver cancers. HCC is a hypervascular tumor that develops from dedifferentiation of small avascular HCC and is therefore a good target for anti‐angiogenic gene therapy.

Norah A. Terrault, Jonathan T. Carter, Laurie Carlson, Michelle E. Roland, Peter G. Stock – 20 April 2006 – The outcome of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) referred for liver transplantation (LT) is unknown. A high frequency of lamivudine‐resistant (LAM‐R) HBV infection may increase the risk of liver‐related death pre‐transplantation and prophylaxis failure post‐transplantation.