Giuseppe Cullaro, Rajani Sharma, Jonel Trebicka, Andrés Cárdenas, Elizabeth C. Verna – 12 November 2019 – Acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a feared complication that can develop at any stage of chronic liver disease. The incidence of ACLF is increasing, leading to a significant burden to both the affected individual and health care systems. To date, our understanding of ACLF suggests that it may be initiated by precipitants such as systemic infection, alcohol use, or viral hepatitis.

Po‐Hsun Huang, Chien‐Chang Liao, Meng‐Hsiang Chen, Tung‐Liang Huang, Chao‐Long Chen, Hsin‐You Ou, Yu‐Fan Cheng – 12 November 2019 – Image evaluation of the vascular architecture is essential before living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). However, the use of contrast‐enhanced study in recipients with impaired renal function is limited due to the risk of acute kidney injury and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Therefore, a contrast medium–free method is both valuable and necessary for preoperative vascular evaluation.

Markus Cornberg, Anna Suk‐Fong Lok, Norah A. Terrault, Fabien Zoulim, the 2019 EASL‐AASLD HBV Treatment Endpoints Conference Faculty – 12 November 2019 – Representatives from academia, industry, regulatory agencies, and patient groups convened in March 2019 with the primary goal of developing agreement on chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment endpoints to guide clinical trials aiming to “cure” HBV. Agreement among the conference participants was reached on some key points.

Richard Curnock, Nigel D. Heaton, Hector Vilca‐Melendez, Anil Dhawan, Nedim Hadzic, Roshni Vara – 12 November 2019 – Liver transplantation (LT) for patients with propionic acidemia (PA) is an emerging therapeutic option. We present a retrospective review of patients with PA who underwent LT at a tertiary liver center between 1995 and 2015. A total of 14 children were identified (8 males) with median age at initial presentation of 3 days (range, 0‐77 days).

Harmful alcohol use accounts for three million annual global deaths. Experts discuss the global health burden of alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), reporting on ALD’s impact in Africa, Latin America and Asia, region-specific factors that promote or hinder solutions and how forthcoming AASLD guidance on ALD may serve as a template to implement effective prevention and treatment strategies worldwide.

Key risk factors for development of drug-induced liver injury (DILI), especially genetic factors like HLA associations, are the focus of this lecture. Speakers will explore other genetic risk factors that may contribute to DILI and discuss recent data showing how the non-HLA gene PTPN22 may contribute to DILI due to the use of a number of different drugs.

The annual Hans Popper Lecture clarifies exciting new findings on cellular renewal mechanisms in liver disease and liver cancer. A subset of hepatocytes with high levels of telomerase are distributed throughout the liver lobule, serving to renew the organ during homeostasis and in response to injury. Learn how genetic ablation of these hepatocytes results in scarring and defective regenrative responses.

HCV-infected organs are now being used for transplantation to HCV-uninfected recipients. This program will review existing data on both liver and non-liver transplantation from HCV-positive donors to HCV-negative recipients and key ethical and practical issues related to HCV-infected donor organs, including whether this should be done only in clinical trials or could be accepted as standard of care.

How can women with liver diseases or organ transplants have healthier pregnancies? Careful, multidisciplinary management is key. This session will provide key updates in this area, covering topics like contraception use and pregnancy management across a spectrum of liver diseases, including the liver transplant population.

Don’t overlook any of the groundbreaking basic science research presented at The Liver Meeting®. New this year, an expert will briefly review all the basic science abstracts presented at the meeting in one condensed session.