David J. Plevak, – 30 December 2003

Alighieri Mazziotti, Gian Luca Grazi, Andrea Gardini, Matteo Cescon, Filippo Pierangeli, Giorgio Ercolani, Elio Jovine, Antonino Cavallari – 30 December 2003 – Percutaneous treatments, such as ethanol injection and radiofrequency, have been recently proposed for the treatment of liver metastases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of these treatments in a series of 8 patients who subsequently underwent liver resection. These patients had been treated with percutaneous methods between December 1995 and May 1997.

James E. Everhart,, Manuel Lombardero, John R. Lake, Russell H. Wiesner, Rowen K. Zetterman, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 30 December 2003 – Obesity is a concern in the long‐term management of patients following liver transplantation, yet the risk of obesity and the factors that influence its development have not been well defined. We evaluated posttransplantation weight change among a cohort of 774 adults who had their height and weight recorded before liver transplantation at three major centers. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30 kg/m2.

Bernard Pol, Patrick Disdier, Y. Patrice Treut,, Pierre Campan, Jean Hardwigsen, Pierre J. Weiller – 30 December 2003 – Three cases of giant hemangioma of the liver associated with clinical and laboratory signs of inflammatory process, including low‐grade fever, weight loss, abdominal pain, accelerated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anemia, thrombocytosis, and increased fibrinogen level with normal white blood cell count are described.

Orla M. Crosbie, Patrick J. Costello, Cliona O'Farrelly, John E. Hegarty – 30 December 2003 – Circulating CD3+ T lymphocytes that express neither the CD4 nor CD8 surface molecules (double‐negative T lymphocytes) are phenotypically and functionally distinct from single‐positive CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ lymphocytes and are thought to represent a distinct T‐cell lineage.

Steven M. Rudich, Milan M. Kinkhabwala, Natalie G. Murray, Darryl M. See, Ronald W. Busuttil, David K. Imagawa – 30 December 2003 – A 55‐year‐old woman developed end‐stage liver disease and the hepatorenal syndrome secondary to cryptogenic cirrhosis. Orthotopic liver transplantation was complicated by bile peritonitis, requiring reoperation and eventual placement of an internal biliary stent. On postoperative day 26, hemobilia was caused by localized rupture of mycotic (Aspergillus fumigatus) hepatic artery pseudoaneurysms with fistulization into the biliary tree.

R P Kufner – 30 December 2003

B Casanova, M Prieto, E Deya, C Gisbert, J Mir, J Berenguer, J J Vilchez – 30 December 2003 – Cyclosporine A (CyA)‐related cortical blindness is an uncommon complication of CyA therapy in patients undergoing liver transplantation. Characteristically, neurological symptoms associated with CyA treatment usually regress after cyclosporine withdrawal. We present a case of a liver transplant recipient in whom discontinuation of CyA therapy has resulted in only partial clinical improvement, and cortical blindness remains after 1 year of follow‐up.

M R Lucey, K A Brown, G T Everson, J J Fung, R Gish, E B Keeffe, N M Kneteman, J R Lake, P Martin, S V McDiarmid, J Rakela, M L Shiffman, S K So, R H Wiesner – 30 December 2003 – This report summarizes a recent meeting cosponsored by the American Society of Transplant Physicians and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases to formulate minimal criteria by which patients with severe liver disease will be placed on the waiting list for liver transplantation.

A M De Wolf, V Scott, R Bjerke, Y Kang, D Kramer, A Miro, J J Fung, F Dodson, T Gayowski, I R Marino, L Firestone – 30 December 2003 – Patients with moderate and severe pulmonary hypertension have a very high mortality rate when undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation. Because nitric oxide has been successful in reducing pulmonary artery pressures in certain patients with pulmonary hypertension, the efficacy of NO inhalation (40 and 80 ppm) in 4 patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with liver disease was determined.