Guido Torzilli, Jacques Belghiti, Masatoshi Makuuchi – 30 January 2004

Masamichi Kojiro – 30 January 2004 – Although increasing numbers of equivocal nodular lesions have been detected in patients with liver cirrhosis with the development of various diagnostic imaging modalities, the pathological diagnosis of small, well‐differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the early stage and of high‐grade dysplastic nodules (DNs) is a controversial issue among both Japanese and Western pathologists.

Yu Fan Cheng, Chao Long Chen, Tung Liang Huang, Tai Yi Chen, Yaw Sen Chen, Chih Chi Wang, Leo Leung‐chit Tsang, King Wah Chiu, Bruno Jawan, Hock Liew Eng – 30 January 2004 – Catheter angiography for early diagnosis of vascular complications in pediatric liver transplant yields excellent results but remains an extremely invasive examination for younger children, precluding its routine use. We assessed the efficacy of three‐dimensional multislice computed tomographic angiography (3DCTA) as an alternative option in these patients.

Anne‐Geneviève Marcelin, Anne‐Marie Roque‐Afonso, Monika Hurtova, Nicolas Dupin, Micheline Tulliez, Mylène Sebagh, Zaïna Ait Arkoub, Catherine Guettier, Didier Samuel, Vincent Calvez, Elisabeth Dussaix – 30 January 2004 – Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV‐8) is associated with the development of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and rare lymphoproliferative disorders in immunosuppressed patients. The risk of HHV‐8 transmission by liver transplantation and the clinical manifestations of primary infection in this setting have yet to be determined.

F. Xavier López‐Labrador, Marina Berenguer, Amparo Sempere, Martín Prieto, Rafael Sirera, Andrés González‐Molina, Vicente Ortiz, Ma Luisa Marty, Joaquín Berenguer, Miguel Gobernado – 30 January 2004 – The association between the severity of chronic hepatitis C and the variability of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome remains controversial, but to our knowledge few data are available to date regarding T‐cell epitope coding regions in transplant patients.

Hwan Young Yoo, Paul J. Thuluvath – 30 January 2004 – Poor socioeconomic status (SES) may be associated with lower survival after liver transplantation. In a previous study, we showed that African‐American race was an independent predictor of poor survival, and one of the major criticisms of our study was that we had not adjusted the survival for SES as a confounding variable.

Gary A. Levy, Edward H. Cole – 30 January 2004

Adrian Fisher, Joseph M. Seguel, Andrew N. de la Torre, Dorian Wilson, Anand Merchant, Rakesh K. Arora, Baburao Koneru – 30 January 2004 – Sirolimus is a new immunosuppressive agent that lacks the nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity associated with calcineurin inhibitors.1–3 The addition of sirolimus to immunosuppressive protocols may thus allow sparing of calcineurin inhibitors and reduction or elimination of associated toxicities.1, 6 Between January 2000 and July 2001, sirolimus was administered to 55 of 116 consecutive liver recipients.

Antonia Dalmau, Antoni Sabaté, Maylin Koo, Carlos Bartolomé, Antoni Rafecas, Juan Figueras, Eduard Jaurrieta – 30 January 2004 – The efficacy of tranexamic acid (TA) and aprotinin (AP) in reducing blood product requirements in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) was compared in a prospective, randomized and double‐blind study.

Josep M. Llovet, Josep Fuster, Jordi Bruix – 30 January 2004 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common neoplasm in the world, and the third most common cause of cancer‐related death. It affects mainly patients with cirrhosis of any etiology. Patients with cirrhosis are thus usually included in surveillance plans aiming to achieve early detection and effective treatment. Only patients who would be treated if diagnosed with HCC should undergo surveillance, which is based on ultrasonography and α‐fetoprotein every 6 months.