Robert M. Weinrieb, Rebecca Barnett, Kevin G. Lynch, Maria DePiano, Alfred Atanda, Kim M. Olthoff – 6 January 2004 – Approximately 85% of patients receiving methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) for opiate dependence in the United States are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). MMT is significantly underrepresented in most liver transplant programs, but the number of patients receiving MMT is increasing and few data are available to guide treatment.

Costas H. Kefalas, Natalie G.B. Murray, James J. Aguanno, William D. Dockery, Jeffrey S. Weinstein, Katherine Anderson, Goran B. Klintmalm – 6 January 2004 – Hypocalcemia in patients with cirrhosis may be due to a number of causes. We noted a relationship between injection with gadodiamide, a particular gadolinium chelate, during magnetic resonance imaging of the liver and the development of a falsely low serum total calcium level in a patient with cirrhosis. A cross‐reference and retrospective chart review identified 10 additional patients in whom this phenomenon was noted.

Jasmohan Singh Bajaj, Rajiv R. Varma – 6 January 2004

Terianne Cowling, Linda W. Jennings, Robert M. Goldstein, Edmund Q. Sanchez, Srinath Chinnakotla, Goran B. Klintmalm, Marlon F. Levy – 6 January 2004 – Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the treatment of choice for end‐stage liver disease of various etiologies. Its use, however, remains limited due to the scarcity of donor organs. Measures to assess health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) are increasingly being implemented to examine the efficacy of medical therapies involving scarce resources.

Shojiro Hata, Yasuhiko Sugawara, Yoji Kishi, Takashi Niiya, Junichi Kaneko, Keiji Sano, Hiroshi Imamura, Norihiro Kokudo, Masatoshi Makuuchi – 6 January 2004 – After right hepatectomy with the middle hepatic vein trunk for a graft, the venous outflow in segment IV is disturbed. There are limited data, however, regarding the effect of middle hepatic vein deprivation on liver regeneration or functional recovery.

Thien Quach, Melissa Tippens, Fania Szlam, Rebecca Van Dyke, Jerrold H. Levy, Marie Csete – 6 January 2004 – Analysis of the effectiveness of antifibrinolytic therapy for liver transplant recipients is hampered by lack of quantitative assays for assessing drug effects. We adapted chemical engineering tools used in polymerization studies to quantify fibrinogen cross‐linking by plasma from liver transplant patients obtained before and after ϵaminocaproic acid (EACA) therapy.

M.Tahir Oruc, Atilla Soran, Ashok K. Jain, John W. Wilson, John Fung – 6 January 2004 – De novo malignancies are one of the current problems in patients with organ transplantation. The incidence has been considered to be higher as a result of increases of oncogenic viruses in immunosuppressed organ recipients. Published reports have shown increased incidence of de novo tumors such as malignant lymphomas and cutaneous neoplasms but decreased incidence of breast cancer.

Hironori Haga, Hiroto Egawa, Tomoyuki Shirase, Aya Miyagawa, Takaki Sakurai, Sachiko Minamiguchi, Hirohiko Yamabe, Toshiaki Manabe, Koichi Tanaka – 6 January 2004 – Humoral rejection caused by antidonor blood group A/B antibodies is one of the most important obstacles for successful ABO‐incompatible liver transplantation. However, no specific morphologic features of liver biopsies to distinguish humoral rejection from other conditions such as ischemia or sepsis have been satisfactorily documented.

Richard B. Freeman – 6 January 2004

Marius C. van den Heuvel, Koert P. de Jong, Marian L.C. van der Horst, Sibrand Poppema, Maarten J.H. Slooff, Annette S.H. Gouw – 6 January 2004 – Severe loss of bile ducts is a hallmark of chronic liver rejection. We hypothesize that loss of the finest branches of the biliary tree, including the intralobular segments, contributes to an impaired regenerative response of bile ducts in chronic rejection. The number and proliferative response of bile ducts, intraportal ductules, and extraportal biliary cells were studied in graft biopsies of 12 chronic‐rejection patients.