J S Galati, K P Holdeman, P L Bottjen, E M Quigley – 30 December 2003 – Our aim was to evaluate gastric emptying and orocecal transit in patients with end‐stage liver disease and portal hypertension undergoing evaluation for liver transplantation.

A L Hoffman, S Emre, R P Verham, L M Petrovic, S Eguchi, J L Silverman, S A Geller, M E Schwartz, C M Miller, L Makowka – 30 December 2003 – Two case reports of hepatic angiomyolipoma, both originating in the caudate lobe, are reported with a review of the literature. The liver is the second most common site of angiomyolipoma, an uncommon benign tumor of mixed mesenchymal origin. It is commonly diagnosed following abdominal pain or as an asymptomatic mass discovered on abdominal ultrasound or computed tomography scan.

S H Belle, M K Porayko, J H Hoofnagle, J R Lake, R K Zetterman – 30 December 2003 – Quality of life is an important factor to consider when assessing the value of liver transplantation. Using a large, prospective database of liver transplantation recipients from three clinical centers in the United States, we examined the quality of life of 346 adults before and 1 year after surgery.

E Gordis – 30 December 2003

E B Keeffe – 30 December 2003

R M Weinrieb, C P O'Brien – 30 December 2003

D P Dunham, P P Aran – 30 December 2003 – Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the use of the serum chemical markers, γ‐glutamyl transferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (AP), and total bilirubin (BR) as tests for biliary complications in patients who had undergone orthotopic liver transplantation. Our study consisted of 105 consecutive adult transplant patients at the University of Chicago from March 1985 to November 1988. Biliary complications were determined by cholangiogram.

M S Mandell, J J Katz, M Wachs, E Gill, I Kam – 30 December 2003

D Azoulay, R Adam, P Pham, M Salvucci, S Davoll, H Bismuth, B Debuire, A Lemoine – 30 December 2003 – Cyclosporine toxicity is still a significant problem in the early period after liver transplantation. The monoethylglycinexylidide (MEGX) test performed in the donor has been suggested as a reliable test to predict liver graft function in the recipient. The MEGX test was performed in 50 consecutive donors, and the clinical course of recipients, metabolic parameters of the grafts, and cyclosporine levels were followed in detail for 10 days. Two patients died of sepsis and were excluded.

S P Dunn, G F Cooney, A Kulinsky, K Falkenstein, A Pierson, J Meligeni – 30 December 2003 – This case report correlates impaired cyclosporine absorption from the traditional oral formulation in a 9‐year‐old liver transplant recipient with subsequent acute allograft rejection. Although impaired absorption in this patient was documented by cyclosporine pharmacokinetic profiling (steady‐state area under the cyclosporine concentration‐time curve or AUC), no indication was evident from the pre‐dose cyclosporine trough level, which was within the typical target range of blood concentrations.