O M Crosbie, J P Crown, N P Nolan, R Murray, J E Hegarty – 30 December 2003 – We report the case of a 21‐year‐old woman who developed severe adult onset ductopenia in association with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Chemotherapy resulted in a remission of her Hodgkin's disease (HD) and significant improvement in liver function with resolution of the hepatic and biliary duct histological abnormalities, a therapeutic success not previously described in the literature.

P F Foster, F Fabrega, S Karademir, H N Sankary, D Mital, J W Williams – 30 December 2003 – The prediction of abstinence from ethanol may be crucial to the optimal selection of liver transplantation candidates with alcoholism. Of 84 consecutive end‐stage alcoholic patients who underwent transplantation (1986‐1994) at our institution, we analyzed 63 long‐surviving recipients for pretransplantation variables to predict posttransplantation abstinence (follow‐up: 49.3 ± 21 mo).

C Lay, Y Tsai, C Y Teg, W S Shyu, W S Guo, K L Wu, K J Lo – 30 December 2003 – To determine the efficacy of endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) in prophylaxis on the rate of first esophageal variceal bleeding, we conducted a prospective, randomized trial in 126 cirrhotic patients with no history of previous upper gastrointestinal bleeding and with esophageal varices endoscopically judged to be at high risk of hemorrhage. The end‐points of the study were bleeding and death.

D W Crabb – 30 December 2003

Christoph E. Broelsch, Andrea Frilling, Giuliano Testa, Vito Cicinnati, Silvio Nadalin, Andreas Paul, Massimo Malago – 30 December 2003 – Key points

Francis Colardyn – 30 December 2003 – The well‐known shortage of organs for transplantation can partly be managed with organs (or parts of them) from living donors. This form of organ donation is hampered by two important drawbacks: the harm to the donor and the lack of certainty that the donation is free of coercion. As often happens in medicine, both aspects have no clear solution. Therefore, all guarantees must be built into the processes leading to transplantation, under the control of peers.

Tetsuya Kiuchi, Koichi Tanaka, Takashi Ito, Fumitaka Oike, Yasuhiro Ogura, Yasuhiro Fujimoto, Kohei Ogawa – 30 December 2003 – With the extensive use of living donor liver grafts in adult patients, controversy over small‐for‐size syndrome has escalated in recent years. Although several symptoms have been suggested as manifestations of the syndrome, small‐for‐size syndrome remains difficult to diagnose because these symptoms are neither specific nor inevitable. The occurrence of small‐for‐size syndrome also seems to depend on a number of recipient and graft factors.

Emilio Fábrega, Covadonga García‐Suarez, Armando Guerra, Aitor Orive, Fernando Casafont, Javier Crespo, Fernando Pons‐Romero – 30 December 2003 – The enduring shortfall of organ donors has inspired the widespread utilization of hepatic allografts from donors with hepatitis B core antibodies in spite of the potential risk of transmitting hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection to the recipient. Here we report a protocol of naive recipients receiving livers from hepatitis B core antibody‐positive donors.

Mohamed H. Wali, Mathis Heydtmann, Rebecca F. Harrison, Bridget K. Gunson, David J. Mutimer – 30 December 2003 – Predictors of hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐related liver disease posttransplantation are still unclear. The impact of HCV genotype on outcome of transplantation has been studied, but conclusions are not in agreement. The role of HCV genotype 4 on the result of liver transplantation requires further study. The aim of this study is to examine the outcome of liver transplantation for patients with HCV genotype‐4 infection.

Harvey J. Woehlck, Christopher P. Johnson, Allan M. Roza, Mark B. Adams – 30 December 2003 – Reperfusion syndrome during liver transplantation and anaphylaxis are clinical syndromes that share similarities in physiological responses. The liver and intestine contain a variety of immunologically active cells, including mast cells. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility that mast‐cell degranulation occurs routinely during transplantation and thereby contributes to hemodynamic instability and coagulopathy.