James Neuberger, Bridget Gunson, Stefan Hubscher, Peter Nightingale – 22 March 2004 – Identifying the risk factors associated with recurrence of primary biliary cirrhosis after liver transplantation may affect immunosuppression and increase understanding of the pathogenesis. Four hundred eighty‐five patients with PBC were followed for a median of 79 months after transplantation; histological evidence of recurrence was found in 23%. On multivariate analysis, the only risk factor identified with recurrence was the type of calcineurin inhibitor used.

Chi‐Leung Liu, See‐Ching Chan, Chung‐Mau Lo, Wai‐Kuen Tso, Sheung‐Tat Fan – 22 March 2004

Michael J. Guirl, Jeffrey S. Weinstein, Robert M. Goldstein, Marlon F. Levy, Goran B. Klintmalm – 22 March 2004 – Two‐stage total hepatectomy and liver transplantation has been reported for acute liver disease such as fulminant hepatic failure, primary graft failure, severe hepatic trauma, and spontaneous hepatic rupture secondary to hemolysis, elevated liver function tests, low platelets syndrome, and preeclampsia. This is the first report of patients with cirrhosis to undergo a 2‐stage total hepatectomy and liver transplantation.

Elizabeth J. Carey, David D. Douglas, Vijayan Balan, Hugo E. Vargas, Thomas J. Byrne, Adyr A. Moss, David C. Mulligan – 22 March 2004 – Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a progressive, debilitating complication of end‐stage liver disease. In contrast to the well‐established reversal of HPS after deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT), little has been written about the natural course of HPS after the newer procedure of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). We describe HPS in a small series of 4 liver transplant recipients (2 DDLT; 2 LDLT) at a single center.

Marc H. Dahlke, Felix C. Popp, Stephen Larsen, Hans J. Schlitt, John E.J. Rasko – 22 March 2004 – Various stem cell populations have been described in distinct models of liver regeneration. This review provides an overview of these different stem cell populations aimed at unifying diverse views of liver stem cell biology. Embryonic stem cells, hemopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, liver‐derived hepatic stem cells, bone marrow–derived hepatic stem cells, and mature hepatocytes (as cells with stemlike properties) are considered separately.

Aya Miyagawa‐Hayashino, Tatsuaki Tsuruyama, Hironori Haga, Fimitaka Oike, Kim Il‐Deok, Hiroto Egawa, Hiroshi Hiai, Koichi Tanaka, Toshiaki Manabe – 22 March 2004 – Chronic rejection is an important cause of liver allograft failures. The allograft undergoing chronic rejection shows affected large‐ and medium‐sized muscular arteries with homing of foamy macrophages and enlargement of the intimal area.

Christine E. Staatz, Paul J. Taylor, Stephen V. Lynch, Susan E. Tett – 22 March 2004 – Although monitoring of tacrolimus blood concentrations is standard clinical practice following liver transplantation, a greater understanding of the relationship between trough concentrations and clinical outcome is required. The aim of this study was to perform a pharmacodynamic investigation of tacrolimus in pediatric liver transplant recipients. A retrospective analysis was performed on 35 pediatric liver recipients who received oral tacrolimus as the primary immunosuppressant.

Katarína Vajdová, Stefan Heinrich, Yinghua Tian, Rolf Graf, Pierre‐Alain Clavien – 22 March 2004 – The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the protective effect of intermittent clamping and ischemic preconditioning is related to an improved hepatic microcirculation after ischemia/reperfusion injury. Male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to 75 or 120 min of hepatic ischemia and 1 or 3 hours of reperfusion.

Raman Venkataramanan, Leslie M. Shaw – 22 March 2004

Masahide Yazaki, Yasuhiko Hashikura, Yo‐ichi Takei, Toshihiko Ikegami, Shin‐ichi Miyagawa, Kanji Yamamoto, Takahiko Tokuda, Keiko Kobayashi, Takeyori Saheki, Shu‐ichi Ikeda – 22 March 2004 – More than 20 patients with adult‐onset type II citrullinemia have undergone liver transplantation, showing dramatic therapeutic effects. In Japan, living donor liver transplantation is the standard technique of liver transplantation because of the rare availability of cadaveric donors.