Nyingi Kemmer, Guy Neff, Tiffany Kaiser, Victoria Zacharias, Mark Thomas, Amit Tevar, Supriya Satwah, Rakesh Shukla, Joseph Buell – 26 September 2006 – The current United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) criteria for liver transplantation gives priority to patients with elevated serum alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP; ≥ 500 ng/mL) in the absence of radiologic evidence of a hepatic mass. Reports have shown that an elevated serum AFP is a poor diagnostic indicator for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis.

Jason Bauer, Stephen Johnson, Janette Durham, Michael Ludkowski, James Trotter, Thomas Bak, Michael Wachs – 26 September 2006 – The purpose of this research was to study the efficacy and outcomes of transjugular intrahepatic shunt (TIPS) in end‐stage liver disease (ESLD) patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) eligible for orthotopic liver transplant. Nine consecutive patients with PVT underwent TIPS as a nonemergent elective outpatient procedure. The primary indication for TIPS was to maintain portal vein patency for optimal surgical outcome.

Hiroto Egawa, Koichi Tanaka, Mureo Kasahara, Yasutsugu Takada, Fumitaka Oike, Kohei Ogawa, Seisuke Sakamoto, Koichi Kozaki, Kaoru Taira, Takashi Ito – 26 September 2006 – Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) involves technical difficulty. The aim of this research was to analyze their preoperative diagnosis of PVT, operative procedures, and postoperative courses of patients with preoperative PVT.

Vincent Donckier, Roberto Troisi, Alain Le Moine, Michel Toungouz, Salvatore Ricciardi, Isabelle Colle, Hans Van Vlierberghe, Ligia Craciun, Myriam Libin, Marleen Praet, Lucien Noens, Patrick Stordeur, Marc Andrien, Micheline Lambermont, Michel Gelin, Nadine Bourgeois, Michael Adler, Bernard de Hemptinne, Michel Goldman – 26 September 2006 – Long‐term results of organ transplantation are still limited by serious side effects of immunosuppressive drugs.

Regis A. Vilchez, Shimon Kusne – 26 September 2006 – JC virus (JCV), BK virus (BKV) and simian virus 40 (SV40) are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) viruses, members of the family Polyomaviridae. These viruses establish persistent infections, and reactivate from latency in their host under immunosuppression. During the last few years there has been recognition of the morbidity related to polyomaviruses, particularly BKV in kidney transplant recipients.

26 September 2006

Frederik Nevens, Jane N. Zuckerman, Andrew K. Burroughs, Maria‐Christina Jung, José M. Bayas, Birgit Kallinowski, Enrique Fraga Rivas, Christophe Duvoux, Peter Neuhaus, Faouzi Saliba, Maria Buti, Jean‐Pierre Zarski, Fernando Pons, Claire Vanlemmens, Virginie Hamtiaux, Michel Stoffel – 26 September 2006 – Patients with chronic liver disease are at higher risk of hepatitis B (HB) virus infection before and after liver transplantation, and they commonly have a suboptimal immune response to HB vaccines.

Amadeo Marcos, Fadi Lakkis, Thomas E. Starzl – 26 September 2006

Joon‐Shik Moon, Nizar Souayah – 26 September 2006 – Guillain‐Barré syndrome (GBS) has been rarely reported after liver transplantation and generally has good outcome. We report a liver transplant patient on FK506 (tacrolimus) who developed GBS 6 months after liver transplantation. There was no evidence of liver rejection or active infection. Despite treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, the patient expired. GBS occurred despite downregulation of T cells by FK506, suggesting that humoral dysfunction might be the predominant mechanism of GBS in this report.

Asma Poonawala Khapra, Kaushik Agarwal, Maria Isabel Fiel, Nickolas Kontorinis, Sabera Hossain, Sukru Emre, Thomas D. Schiano – 26 September 2006 – Studies have suggested that the use of hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐positive (HCV+) donor allografts has no impact on survival. However, no studies have examined the effect that HCV+ donor histology has upon recipient and graft survival. We evaluated the clinical outcome and impact of histological features in HCV patients transplanted using HCV+ livers.