Margaret C. Shuhart, Kris V. Kowdley, John P. McVicar, Charles A. Rohrmann, Mary F. McDonald, Donald W. Wadland, Scott S. Emerson, Robert L. Carithers, Michael B. Kimmey – 30 December 2003 – Bile leaks after T‐tube removal are a frequent cause of morbidity in orthotopic liver transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to determine factors that predict the development of these leaks in liver transplant recipients. Records of all patients who had undergone liver transplantation at the University of Washington Medical Center between January 1990 and September 1993 were reviewed.

D.H. Van Thiel, – 30 December 2003

J. Ignacio Herrero, Andrés de Peña, Jorge Quiroga, Bruno Sangro, Nicolás Garcia, Iosu Sola, Javier A. Cienfuegos, Maria P. Civeira, Jesús Prieto – 30 December 2003 – Recurrent hepatitis C is a frequent complication after liver transplantation for hepatitis C virus–related cirrhosis, but risk factors related to its development remain ill defined. Twenty‐three patients receiving a primary liver graft for hepatitis C virus–related cirrhosis and with an assessable biopsy performed at least 6 months after liver transplantation were studied retrospectively.

Nagappan Kumar, William J. Wall, David R. Grant, Cameron N. Ghent – 30 December 2003

Anthony E. T. Yeo, Yasuhito Tanaka, Takahisa Furuta – 30 December 2003

Yoko Yamagiwa, Carla Marienfeld, Laura Tadlock, Tushar Patel – 30 December 2003 – The p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway is aberrantly expressed and maintains transformed cell growth in malignant human cholangiocytes. Because cell growth requires and is intimately related to protein synthesis, our aims were to assess the effect of p38 MAPK signaling on protein synthesis during growth of malignant human cholangiocytes. Inhibition of p38 MAPK activity during mitogenic stimulation decreased protein synthesis rates and tumor cell xenograft growth in nude mice.

Wolfgang Hempfling, Frank Grunhage, Karin Dilger, Christoph Reichel, Ulrich Beuers, Tilman Sauerbruch – 30 December 2003 – Budesonide has been discussed as a potential treatment option in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Therefore, we studied the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of budesonide in patients with PBC stage I/II and stage IV. Twelve patients with early PBC stage I/II and 7 patients with PBC stage IV under continuous treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) were enrolled in an exploratory trial.

Toshiyuki Maruyama, Hiroshi Mitsui, Kazuyuki Hanajiri, Yasuhiko Sugawara, Hiroshi Imamura, Masatoshi Makuuchi – 30 December 2003

Philippe Ichai, Emmanuel Huguet, Catherine Guettier, Daniel Azoulay, Maria Eugenia Gonzalez, Bernard Fromenty, Pascal Masnou, Faouzi Saliba, Bruno Roche, Fahed Zeitoun, Denis Castaing, Didier Samuel – 30 December 2003 – Fulminant liver failure is a rare complication of grand mal seizures with a high mortality, the prognosis being largely determined by the combination of the hepatic and neurologic insults. The mechanisms of acute liver failure secondary to grand mal epilepsy and the place of liver transplantation in this context are poorly defined and are the subject of this report.

John Tsiaoussis, Philip Noel Newsome, Leonard Joseph Nelson, Peter Clive Hayes, John Nicholas Plevris – 30 December 2003 – Liver failure, notwithstanding advances in medical management, remains a cause of considerable morbidity and mortality in the developed world. Although bioartificial liver (BAL) support systems offer the potential of significant therapeutic benefit for such patients, many issues relating to their use are still to be resolved.