Michiel C. Warlé, Herold J. Metselaar, Wim C.J. Hop, Hugo W. Tilanus – 22 December 2004 – In the field of liver transplantation, 7 reports have been published investigating the association between polymorphisms in cytokine genes and the occurrence of acute rejection in liver graft recipients. However, most of the individual studies lack the statistical power to detect a small‐to‐moderate effect of cytokine gene polymorphisms on the acute rejection rate.

John Fung, Jorge Rakela – 22 December 2004

Samuel H. Sigal, Aftab Ala, Katya Ivanov, Sabera Hossain, Carol Bodian, Thomas D. Schiano, Albert D. Min, Henry C. Bodenheimer, Swan N. Thung – 22 December 2004 – In chronic liver disease associated with histological necroinflammation, clinical severity is frequently greater in those with higher grades of activity.

Srikanth Reddy, Joanne Greenwood, Nikolai Maniakin, Shantanu Bhattacharjya, Miguel Zilvetti, Jens Brockmann, Tim James, David Pigott, Peter Friend – 22 December 2004 – Normothermic preservation has been shown to be advantageous in an experimental model of preservation of non‐heart‐beating donor (NHBD) livers, which have undergone significant warm ischemic injury. The logistics of clinical organ retrieval might dictate a period of cold preservation prior to warm perfusion.

Alan J. Wigg, Bridget K. Gunson, David J. Mutimer – 22 December 2004 – Seronegative hepatitis is a common cause of acute liver failure (ALF) requiring liver transplantation. The primary aim of this study was to examine outcomes following transplantation in this group and to identify factors associated with early (<2 months) mortality. Patients studied were 110 consecutive cases of seronegative ALF transplanted at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, between January 1992 and January 2004.

Yoji Kishi, Yasuhiko Sugawara, Yuichi Matsui, Nobuhisa Akamatsu, Noboru Motomura, Shinichi Takamoto, Masatoshi Makuuchi – 22 December 2004 – Minimizing graft congestion in partial liver transplantation is important, especially when the graft weight is marginal for the recipient metabolic demand. We prefer the double vena cava technique for reconstructing middle hepatic vein tributaries with thick, short hepatic veins because the technique can reduce the warm ischemic time of the graft and make a wide anastomosis. This technique requires a cryopreserved superior or inferior vena cava.

Marek Radkowski, Tomasz Laskus – 22 December 2004 – It is presumed that resolution of hepatitis C, as evidenced by normalization of liver function tests and disappearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA from serum, as determined by conventional laboratory assays, reflects virus eradication.

Bruce R. Bacon – 22 December 2004

J. Ignacio Herrero, Jorge Quiroga, Fernando Pardo, Bruno Sangro – 22 December 2004

John C. Bucuvalas, Estella Alonso – 22 December 2004