Eugenio Caturelli, Giorgia Ghittoni, Paola Roselli, Mariagrazia De Palo, Marcello Anti – 30 January 2004 – Guided biopsy of hepatocellular carcinoma has been recently discussed again due to the progress of imaging techniques and the risk of malignant seeding after the procedure. Ultrasound is probably still the most accurate imaging modality for early detection of nodules arising on cirrhosis, even when compared with more advanced imaging techniques. It can be easily employed in the surveillance of high‐risk cirrhotic patients.

Aurélie Plessier, Liana Codes, Yann Consigny, Daniele Sommacale, Federica Dondero, Alexandre Cortes, Françoise Degos, Pierre‐Yves Brillet, Valérie Vilgrain, Valérie Paradis, Jacques Belghiti, François Durand – 30 January 2004 – Liver transplantation offers good results in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma. However, 3 to 15% of patients still have recurrence, suggesting that factors other than the size and number of nodules are implicated. The aim of our study was to identify predictive factors of recurrence in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma.

Gennaro Nuzzo, Felice Giuliante, Maria Vellone, Germano De Cosmo, Francesco Ardito, Marino Murazio, Fabrizio D'Acapito, Ivo Giovannini – 30 January 2004 – Hepatic pedicle clamping (HPC) is widely used to control intraoperative bleeding during hepatectomy; intermittent HPC is better tolerated but is associated with blood loss during each period of reperfusion. Recently, it has been shown that ischemic preconditioning (IP) reduces the ischemia‐reperfusion damage for up to 30 minutes of continuous clamping in healthy liver.

Michael A.E. Ramsay, Henry B. Randall, Elizabeth C. Burton – 30 January 2004 – This case report describes a patient who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation and developed extensive hyperacute venous and arterial intravascular thromboses and thromboemboli intraoperatively. The patient was receiving antifibrinolytic therapy with aprotinin. The safety of routine aprotinin therapy in liver transplantation is examined. The value of the thrombelastograph (TEG) as a qualitative assessment of the coagulation system is emphasized. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:310–314.)

Sundararajah Thevananther, Hongdan Sun, Duo Li, Vijaya Arjunan, Samir S. Awad, Samuel Wyllie, Tracy L. Zimmerman, John A. Goss, Saul J. Karpen – 30 January 2004 – Partial hepatectomy leads to an orchestrated regenerative response, activating a cascade of cell signaling events necessary for cell cycle progression and proliferation of hepatocytes. However, the identity of the humoral factors that trigger the activation of these pathways in the concerted regenerative response in hepatocytes remains elusive.

Shiqi Yang, Ayman Koteish, Huizhi Lin, Jiawen Huang, Tania Roskams, Valina Dawson, Anna Mae Diehl – 30 January 2004 – Hepatic steatosis may have a generally benign prognosis, either because most hepatocytes are not significantly injured or mechanisms to replace damaged hepatocytes are induced.

Jose C. FernÁndez‐Checa, Carmen Garcia‐Ruiz – 30 January 2004

Jordi Blanch, Barbara Sureda, Montse Flaviá, Victoria Marcos, Joan de Pablo, Elisa De Lazzari, Antoni Rimola, Victor Vargas, Victor Navarro, Carlos Margarit, Josep Visa – 30 January 2004 – Although the survival rate of patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is highly satisfactory, one of the most important objectives for liver transplantation teams at the present time is to achieve the best possible quality of life and psychosocial functioning for these patients after transplantation.

Elisabetta Cerutti, Chiara Stratta, Renato Romagnoli, Maria Maddalena Schellino, Stefano Skurzak, Mario Rizzetto, Giacomo Tamponi, Mauro Salizzoni – 30 January 2004 – Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is becoming a widespread procedure. However, the risk of surgical and medical complications in healthy donors is still a major concern. Hypercoagulability contributes to thromboembolic complications after surgery, but alterations of hemostasis after liver resection are difficult to predict.

Thomas D. Boyer – 30 January 2004