Roland Schachler, Tilman Sauerbruch, Ulrich Wosiewitz, Joseph Holl, Dietbert Hahn, Roland Denk, Michael Neubrand, Gustav Paumgartner – 1 July 1988 – Eighty in vitro experiments were performed with single (n = 51) or multiple (n = 29) gallstones in order to find out which parameters are of prime importance for their disintegration by extracorporeal shock waves. A Dornier lithotripter and an upper limit of 1,500 discharges were employed.

Jordi Camps, Xavier Sola, Antoni Rimola, Albert Parés, Antoni Rives, Juan M. Salmeron, Vicente Arroyo, Joan Rodés – 1 July 1988 – Several authors have suggested that the risk of developing aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity is greater in cirrhotic patients than in the noncirrhotic population. However, this has not been confirmed by other investigators. To compare the intensity and characteristics of aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity in cirrhotic and normal rats, 31 rats with carbon tetrachloride‐induced cirrhosis with ascites and 35 control rats were treated with gentamicin.

Kenji Fujiwara, Itsuro Ogata, Yasuhiko Ohta, Shigeki Hayashi, Shunji Mishiro, Katsuyoshi Takatsuki, Yuzuru Sato, Shinwa Yamada, Keichi Hirata, Hiroshi Oka, Toshitsugu Oda, Hisanori Kawaji, Shinobu Matsuda, Yasuhiko Niiyama, Ryoichi Tsukuda – 1 July 1988 – Hepatic fibrosis was induced in rats by repeated i.p. injections of pig serum. The hepatic hydroxyproline content increased to 2.1 times the normal control level at 6 weeks and to 3.2 times at 10 weeks.

Eike Walter, Hubert E. Blum, Peter Meier, Martin Huonker, Martin Schmid, Klaus‐Peter Maier, Wolf‐Bernhard Offensperger, Silke Offensperger, Wolfgang Gerok – 1 July 1988 – Hepatocellular carcinoma tissues from HBsAg‐negative patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease were investigated for the presence of hepatitis B virus DNA. Southern blot analyses of DNA extracted from the hepatocellular carcinomas were negative for hepatitis B virus DNA in all 17 patients examined, at a level of sensitivity of less than 0.01 genome equivalent per cell.

Lars Berglund, Bo Angelin, Rolf Blomstrand, George Drummond, Attallah Kappas – 1 May 1988 – Sn‐protoporphyrin, a potent competitive inhibitor of heme oxygenase, the rate‐limiting enzyme in the degradation of heme to bile pigment, was administered to 10 normal volunteers: 8 males and 2 females. A significant decrease in the levels of serum (mean decrease; 38%) and biliary bilirubin (mean decrease: 47%) was demonstrated in all 10 subjects. The decrease in these parameters lasted for a minimum of 4 days after administration of the metalloporphyrin.

Yun‐Fan Liaw, Dar‐In Tai, Chia‐Ming Chu, Tong‐Jong Chen – 1 May 1988 – The incidence and contributing factors of cirrhosis developing in patients with chronic type B hepatitis were assessed prospectively in 684 clinicopathologically verified patients, of which 509 were HBeAg positive and 175 were anti‐HBe positive at entry into the study. During an average follow‐up period of 35.3 months, cirrhosis occurred 6 to 64 months after entry in 35 HBeAg‐positive and 7 anti‐HBe positive patients with a calculated annual incidence of 2.4 and 1.3%, respectively (p > 0.05).

1 May 1988

I. Michael Samloff – 1 May 1988 – To characterize bleeding from gastric red spots in patients with cirrhosis, three groups of patients were studied: (a) 11 cirrhotic patients bleeding from gastric red spots, (b) 18 nonbleeding cirrhotic patients without gastric red spots, and (c) 13 non‐cirrhotic patients with endoscopic normal mucosa (controls). Histologic examination of antral biopsy specimens revealed a diffuse capillary ectasia without inflammation in 8 of the 11 cirrhotic patients with gastric lesions.

Russell H. Wiesner, Patricia M. Grambsch, Keith D. Lindor, Jurgen Ludwig, E. Rolland Dickson – 1 May 1988 – Primary biliary cirrhosis is a chronic, progressive, cholestatic liver disease thought to be related to abnormalities in immune regulation. The disease is associated with granulomatous bile duct destruction, cholestasis, hepatic copper overloading and the development of hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis or both. There have been numerous therapeutic trials evaluating immunosuppres‐sive, antifibrotic and cupruretic agents.

Fenton Schaffner – 1 May 1988 – One hundred and fifty‐four patients with histologically verified non‐alcoholic chronic liver disease were randomized to azathioprine or prednisone treatment. After a median of 91 months observation time, the cause of death was assessed retrospectively. Autopsy was performed in 82% of 71 deaths. In the azathioprine group 33% (13/39) died from malignant neoplasia, and in the prednisone group (13%) (4/32) (p = 0.08).