Mohammed S. Khuroo, Mehnaaz S. Khuroo, Karim L.C. Farahat – 30 August 2004 – Molecular adsorbent recirculating system (MARS) is an important option for patients with liver failure to give them additional time for recovery or to serve as a “bridge” to transplantation. However, its effect on survival for such patients is not well known. Our aim was to assess the treatment effects of MARS on patients with acute and acute‐on‐chronic liver failure. The outcomes measure evaluated was survival.

Ziv Ben‐Ari – 30 August 2004

Shin Hwang, Sung‐Gyu Lee, Young‐Joo Lee, Kwang‐Min Park, Ki‐Hun Kim, Chul‐Soo Ahn, Kyu‐Bo Sung, Deok‐Bog Moon, Tae‐Yong Ha, Keon‐Kuk Kim, Yeon‐Dae Kim – 30 August 2004 – The right posterior segment (RPS) graft was introduced to overcome graft‐size mismatch when the donor liver demonstrates a disproportionately small left lobe (LL). As variants of liver anatomy seemed to be related to the feasibility of RPS graft procurement, in 2003, we performed a prospective study to assess its feasibility in 197 consecutive living donors.

Michael Charlton, Kris Ruppert, Steven H. Belle, Nathan Bass, Daniel Schafer, Russell H. Wiesner, Katherine Detre, Yuling Wei, James Everhart – 30 August 2004 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐associated liver disease is the most common indication for liver transplantation (LT). There are, however, no long‐term (>5 year) studies of comparative outcomes for recipients with HCV infection, and no models capable of identifying recipients with HCV infection at greatest risk for adverse outcomes.

Laszlo Romics, Angela Dolganiuc, Karen Kodys, Yvonne Drechsler, Shilpa Oak, Arumugam Velayudham, Pranoti Mandrekar, Gyongyi Szabo – 30 August 2004 – Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) triggers cytokine production through Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4), which shares downstream signaling pathways with TLR2. We investigated the roles of TLR2 and TLR4 in Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes)–primed, LPS‐induced liver damage using selective TLR ligands. Stock LPS induced interleukin 8 in both TLR4‐ and TLR2‐expressing human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells.

J. Ignacio Herrero, Jorge Quiroga, Bruno Sangro, Fernando Pardo, Fernando Rotellar, Javier Alvarez‐Cienfuegos, Jesus Prieto – 30 August 2004 – Herpes zoster is the consequence of the reactivation of latent varicella‐zoster infection. Immunosuppression may be a predisposing factor for herpes zoster. We have retrospectively assessed the risk of herpes zoster, the risk factors for its occurrence, and its evolution in a population of 209 consecutive liver transplant recipients. Herpes zoster developed in 25 (12%) of patients.

Norihiro Kokudo, Yasuhiko Sugawara, Junichi Kaneko, Hiroshi Imamura, Keiji Sano, Masatoshi Makuuchi – 30 August 2004 – The addition of the caudate lobe to a left liver graft is known to increase graft volume by 9% and has been shown to be useful for overcoming borderline graft‐recipient size mismatch in adult living donor liver transplantation. To assure full graft viability and regeneration, all of the feeding vessels for the caudate lobe should be preserved or reconstructed. However, more knowledge is needed about portal vein reconstruction for the caudate lobe.

Camino Valentín‐Gamazo, Massimo Malagó, Marc Karliova, Juergen T. Lutz, Andrea Frilling, Silvio Nadalin, Giuliano Testa, Stefan G. Ruehm, Yesim Erim, Andreas Paul, Hauke Lang, Guido Gerken, Christoph E. Broelsch – 30 August 2004 – Adequate selection of donors is a major prerequisite for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Few centers report on the entire number of potential donors considered or rejected for living donation.

David Stell, Donal Downey, Paul Marotta, Edward Solano, Anand Khakhar, Douglas Quan, Cam Ghent, Vivian McAlister, William Wall – 30 August 2004 – Doppler ultrasound (DUS) is able to measure parameters of blood flow within vessels of transplanted organs, and vascular complications are associated with abnormal values. We analyzed the findings of 51 consecutive patients who underwent DUS on 2 occasions in the first postoperative week following liver transplantation for cirrhosis to determine the range of values in patients following liver transplantation.

Michal R. Pijak, Frantisek Gazdik, Stefan Hrusovsky – 30 August 2004