Pratima Sharma, Vijayan Balan, Jose L. Hernandez, Ann M. Harper, Erick B. Edwards, Hector Rodriguez‐Luna, Thomas Byrne, Hugo E. Vargas, David Mulligan, Jorge Rakela, Russell H. Wiesner – 6 January 2004 – The new allocation policy of the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) based on the model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) gives candidates with stage T1 or stage T2 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) a priority MELD score beyond their degree of hepatic decompensation.

Richard B. Freeman, Russell H. Wiesner, Erick Edwards, Ann Harper, Robert Merion, Robert Wolfe – 6 January 2004 – Liver allocation policy in the U.S. was recently changed to a continuous disease severity scale with minimal weight given to time waiting in an effort to better prioritize deceased donor liver transplant candidates. We compared rates of waiting list registrations, removals, transplants, and deaths during the year prior to implementation of the new liver allocation policy (2/27/01–2/26/02, Era 1) with the first year's experience (2/27/02–2/26/03, Era 2) under this new policy.

Romuald Bellmann, Ivo W. Graziadei, Clemens Feistritzer, Hubert Schwaighofer, Frans Stellaard, Ekkehard Sturm, Christian J. Wiedermann, Michael Joannidis – 6 January 2004 – Albumin dialysis has been shown to improve the outcome in patients with cholestatic liver failure caused by chronic liver disease. This study reports 7 liver transplant recipients who were treated with albumin dialysis for intractable pruritus of different origin (ductopenic graft rejection, non‐anastomotic strictures, and recurrence of hepatitis C).

Olivier Scatton, Jacques Belghiti, Federica Dondero, Diane Goere, Daniele Sommacale, Marylène Plasse, Alain Sauvanet, Olivier Farges, Valérie Vilgrain, Francois Durand – 6 January 2004 – The harvesting of the middle hepatic vein (MHV) with a right hepatectomy for living‐donor liver transplantation allows an optimal venous drainage for the recipient but can also have adverse effects for the donor.

Paul H. Hayashi, James F. Trotter, Lisa Forman, Marcelo Kugelmas, Tracy Steinberg, Paul Russ, Michael Wachs, Thomas Bak, Igal Kam, Gregory T. Everson – 6 January 2004 – The allocation system based on the Model for End‐stage Liver Disease (MELD) has led to more patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) being transplanted. We hypothesized that more patients misdiagnosed with HCC are also being transplanted, leading to inappropriate organ allocation.

Joseph F. Buell, E. Steve Woodle – 6 January 2004 – Ovarian cancer is the gynecologic malignancy with the highest number of deaths in the United States. Previous studies had found a decreased incidence of female gynecological malignancies after liver transplantation. In order to estimate the incidence of ovarian carcinoma after liver transplantation, we evaluated 1,708 consecutive liver transplant recipients from 1984 to 2001. Of them, 770 (43%) were female. Routine follow‐ups were performed at 1, 2, 5, and 10 years after transplantation. There were two cases of ovarian carcinoma.

Henkie P. Tan, Amadeo Marcos – 6 January 2004

Khee Lim Ng, J.S. Davidson, Andrew J. Bathgate – 6 January 2004

Christopher Rose, Rajiv Jalan – 6 January 2004

6 January 2004