Rita van den Berg‐Emons, Berbke van Ginneken, Markus Wijffels, Hugo Tilanus, Herold Metselaar, Henk Stam, Geert Kazemier – 9 March 2006 – Fatigue is often experienced after liver transplantation. The aim of this cross‐sectional study was to assess the severity of fatigue in liver transplant recipients. In addition, the nature of fatigue and factors that may be associated with severity of fatigue after liver transplantation were explored. Ninety‐six patients up to 15 years after liver transplantation were included.

Massimo Malagó, Georgios C. Sotiropoulos, Silvio Nadalin, Camino Valentin‐Gamazo, Andreas Paul, Hauke Lang, Arnold Radtke, Fuat Saner, Ernesto Molmenti, Susanne Beckebaum, Guido Gerken, Andrea Frilling, Christoph E. Broelsch – 9 March 2006 – Liver transplantation (LT) is the treatment of choice for early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with end‐stage liver disease but is limited by the availability of donor organs. Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) represents an alternative therapeutic option for patients with disease confined to the liver.

Saiho Ko, Eiji Okano, Hiromichi Kanehiro, Masanori Matsumoto, Hiromichi Ishizashi, Masahito Uemura, Yoshihiro Fujimura, Koichi Tanaka, Yoshiyuki Nakajima – 9 March 2006 – A disintegrin‐like and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin type‐1 motifs 13 (ADAMTS13) is a metalloproteinase that specifically cleaves the multimeric von Willebrand factor (VWF). Deficiency of ADAMTS13 increases the unusually large VWF multimers (UL‐VWFM), which leads to platelet clumping and/or thrombus formation, resulting in microcirculatory disturbance.

Marina Berenguer, Victoria Aguilera, Martín Prieto, Fernando San Juan, José M. Rayón, Salvador Benlloch, Joaquín Berenguer – 9 March 2006 – The severity of recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) is likely related to several factors. Controversial results have been reported regarding the effect of specific calcineurin‐inhibitors. The aim of this research was to determine whether there are differences on posttransplantation outcome in HCV‐infected patients based on initial immunosuppression. Prospective randomized trial comparing tacrolimus vs.

Roberto Troisi, Lucien Noens, Roberto Montalti, Salvatore Ricciardi, Jan Philippé, Marleen Praet, Pasquale Conoscitore, Michele Centra, Bernard de Hemptinne – 9 March 2006 – ABO‐incompatible (ABO‐I) liver transplantation is a controversial issue because of the generally less favorable outcome as compared to compatible transplants. Encouraging results have been shown by the introduction of new strategies to reduce posttransplant‐specific hemagglutinin (HA) titers with plasmapheresis, reinforced immunosuppression (IS), and the use of splenectomy.

Andrea DiMartini, Nancy Day, Mary Amanda Dew, Lubna Javed, Mary Grace Fitzgerald, Ashok Jain, John J. Fung, Paulo Fontes – 9 March 2006 – For patients who receive a liver transplant (LTX) for alcoholic liver disease (ALD), investigators are focusing beyond survival to determine specific alcohol use outcomes. Studies suggest the use of alcohol ranges from 8 to 22% for the first post‐transplant year with cumulative rates reaching 30 to 40% by 5 years following transplantation.

Hideaki Uchiyama, Yuji Soejima, Akinobu Taketomi, Tomoharu Yoshizumi, Noboru Harada, Hideki Ijichi, Yusuke Yonemura, Yoshihiko Maehara – 23 February 2006 – Portopulmonary hypertension (PPHTN) is one of the most devastating consequences of end‐stage liver cirrhosis. When a patient has moderate to severe PPHTN, his or her candidature for liver transplantation is denied. Here we report a successful adult‐to‐adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in a patient with moderate to severe PPHTN.

Olaf Guckelberger, Florian Mutzke, Matthias Glanemann, Ulf P. Neumann, Sven Jonas, Ruth Neuhaus, Peter Neuhaus, Jan M. Langrehr – 23 February 2006 – Increased prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors has been acknowledged in liver transplant recipients, and an increased incidence of cardiovascular events has been suspected. Individual risk determination, however, has not yet been established.

James D. Perkins – 23 February 2006 – The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of interrelated common clinical disorders, including obesity, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, hypertension, and dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL cholesterol levels). According to recently defined criteria, the metabolic syndrome is prevalent and is associated with a greater risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease than any of its individual components.

Matthew Hoare, William TH Gelson, Nagui Antoun, Graeme JM Alexander – 23 February 2006