Ronan E. O'Carroll, Margaret Couston, Jill Cossar, George Masterton, Peter Clive Hayes – 30 December 2003 – Liver transplantation is a well‐established treatment for liver failure. Prolongation in survival is accepted, but long‐term effects of liver transplantation on cognitive and psychological outcome are unclear. In the present study, psychological data were prospectively collected for 164 patients who were assessed for liver transplantation. Memory impairment, psychomotor slowing, anxiety, and depression were commonly observed.

Mary E. Rinella, Richard McCarthy, Kiran Thakrar, John Paul Finn, Sambasiva M. Rao, Alan J. Koffron, Michael Abecassis, Andres T. Blei – 30 December 2003 – In living liver donation, a fatty liver poses risks for both recipient and donor. Currently, liver biopsy is the standard for assessing the presence and extent of steatosis. The goals of this study were to correlate a steatosis index derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to the histologic grade on biopsy as well as to determine the topographic distribution of steatosis within the liver.

Mira Johri, Peter A. Ubel – 30 December 2003 – Objective: To investigate the nature of public preferences in the allocation of donor liver grafts for transplantation. Design: A qualitative study based upon the transcripts of four focus groups. Setting: Derby, Derbyshire, UK. Participants: Twenty‐two members of the public in the Derby locality, recruited to one of four focus groups through local community groups.

Nils R. Frühauf, Susanne Koeppen, Fuat H. Saner, Thomas Egelhof, Gregor Stavrou, Silvio Nadalin, Christoph E. Broelsch – 30 December 2003 – Neurotoxicity is a well‐known side effect of tacrolimus‐based immunosuppression after liver transplantation. Until now, only 31 cases of immunosuppression‐associated leukoencephalopathy in liver transplant recipients reported in the literature are related to tacrolimus therapy. We report a patient who developed a posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome, secondary to tacrolimus‐based immunosuppression, after living donor liver transplantation.

Marv Berkowitz – 30 December 2003

Luigi Accatino, Margarita Pizarro, Nancy Solís, Marco Arrese, Cecilia S. Koenig – 30 December 2003 – Hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion (I‐R) injury frequently is associated with cholestasis. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. The aim of the study is to assess bile secretory function in vivo in rats subjected to warm lobar hepatic ischemia at different times during reperfusion. A model of lobar 70% warm hepatic ischemia for 30 minutes was used with studies conducted at 1 and 6 hours and 1, 3, and 7 days after reperfusion.

Xupeng Ge, Bo‐Göran Ericzon, Grzegorz Nowak, Henrik Öhrström, Ulrika Broomé, Suchitra Sumitran‐Holgersson – 30 December 2003 – During acute liver allograft rejection, most of the tissue damage to bile duct epithelium is thought to occur as a consequence of direct immunologic injury by T‐cell‐mediated immune effector mechanisms. However, the role of antibodies to biliary epithelial cells (BECs) in liver transplant rejection is not known.

Marina Berenguer, Victoria Aguilera, Martin Prieto, Domingo Carrasco, Miguel Rayón, Fernando San Juan, Carmen Landaverde, José Mir, Joaquín Berenguer – 30 December 2003 – Although histological hepatitis occurs in the majority of hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐infected liver transplant recipients, the natural history is highly variable. Whereas progression to cirrhosis occurs in up to 30% after 3 to 7 years, the disease remains stable in another third of patients, in whom protocol liver biopsies might be avoided.

Georgia Kostopanagiotou, Vassilios Smyrniotis, Kassiani Theodoraki, Yannis Skalkidis, Nigel Heaton, Dennis Potter – 30 December 2003 – Studies have stressed the role of adequate tissue oxygenation in the light of an optimal patient outcome and allograft viability in liver transplantation. The practice of monitoring conventional hemodynamic parameters during liver transplantation could be complemented by parameters assessing real oxygen availability. In the present prospective study, real arterial available oxygen content (CavlO2) and its extraction ratio (O2ERavl) were calculated.

Mitchell L. Shiffman, Hugo E. Vargas, Gregory T. Everson – 30 December 2003 – Recurrence of hepatitis C virus infection after liver transplantation is universal. A significant percentage of these patients develop progressive graft injury and cirrhosis. Those factors that modulate disease progression in liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C virus infection remain controversial and are poorly understood. Treatment of recurrent hepatitis C virus after liver transplantation with either interferon or interferon and ribavirin has yielded only limited success.