Gary L. Davis – 28 December 2005

Janis E. Blair – 28 December 2005 – Coccidioidomycosis is an endemic fungal infection in the southwestern United States. It causes morbidity and mortality among solid organ transplant recipients who reside in or visit the endemic area or who receive organs from donors infected with the fungus. This paper reviews current literature addressing these infections in liver transplantation programs, including risk factors, clinical manifestations in persons with cirrhosis or who have had a liver transplantation, prophylaxis, treatment, and outcomes. Liver Transpl 12:31–39, 2006. © 2005 AASLD.

Claire Terry, Anil Dhawan, Ragai R. Mitry, Sharon C. Lehec, Robin D. Hughes – 28 December 2005 – Cryopreservation of human hepatocytes is important for the treatment of liver disease by hepatocyte transplantation and also for the use of hepatocytes as an in vitro model of the liver. One factor in the success of cryopreservation is the quality of cells before freezing.

Michael A. Silva, Periyathambi S. Jambulingam, Bridget K. Gunson, David Mayer, John A.C. Buckels, Darius F. Mirza, Simon R. Bramhall – 28 December 2005 – Hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) occurs in 3–9% of all liver transplants and acute graft loss is a possible sequelae. We present our experience in the management of HAT over a 10‐year period. Prospectively collected data from April 1994 to April 2004 were analyzed. There were 1,257 liver transplants, 669 males, median age 51 (16–73) years. There were 61 (4.9%) cases of HAT. Early HAT occurred in 21 (1.8%).

Benjamin L. Shneider, Frederick J. Suchy, Sukru Emre – 28 December 2005 – Since February 2002, the Pediatric End Stage Liver Disease (PELD) scoring system has been utilized as a means of prioritizing children for liver transplantation. The United Network for Organ Sharing database was queried to assess utilization of PELD in 2003 and 2004; 682 liver transplants were performed in pediatric recipients where the PELD score was potentially the primary determinant of liver allocation.

Montserrat Ferrer, Juan Córdoba, Olatz Garin, Gemma Olivé, Montserrat Flavià, Victor Vargas, Rafael Esteban, Jordi Alonso – 28 December 2005 – The Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ) measures the impact on quality of life of chronic liver diseases, regardless of underlying etiology. The aim of this study was to develop a Spanish version of the CLDQ, and to assess its acceptability, reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change. The forward and back‐translation method by bilingual translators, with expert panel and pilot testing on patients, was used for the adaptation.

Jeong M. Park, Kathleen D. Lake, Juan D. Arenas, Robert J. Fontana – 28 December 2005 – The efficacy and safety of valganciclovir (VGCV) for cytomegalovirus (CMV) prophylaxis in liver transplant recipients has not been established. We retrospectively compared the efficacy and safety of low‐dose oral VGCV (450 mg once daily for 90 days) and standard oral ganciclovir (1 g three times a day for 90 days, GCV) in preventing CMV disease in 109 adult liver transplant recipients who survived at least 1 month between January 2001 and April 2003 (49 GCV and 60 VGCV).

Stephen C. Strom, Hongbo Cai, Ewa Ellis, Keitaro Mitamura, Toshio Miki – 28 December 2005

Il‐Deok Kim, Takashi Azuma, Akio Ido, Akihiro Moriuchi, Masatsugu Numata, Satoshi Teramukai, Jun Okamoto, Sadami Tsutsumi, Koichi Tanaka, Hirohito Tsubouchi – 28 December 2005 – The accurate calculation of hepatic volume by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) is complicated by the need for breath holding and the injection of contrast media.

Roberto J. Firpi, Haizhen Zhu, Giuseppe Morelli, Manal F. Abdelmalek, Consuelo Soldevila‐Pico, Victor I. Machicao, Roniel Cabrera, Alan I. Reed, Chen Liu, David R. Nelson – 28 December 2005 – Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressive agent widely used in the management of liver transplant recipients. Cyclosporine has been shown to have antiviral activities against HIV, herpes simplex, and vaccinia viruses.