L G Bayon, M A Izquierdo, I Sirovich, N van rooijen, R H Beelen, S Meijer – 1 May 1996 – Metastasis to the liver is a common event in clinical oncology. Blood‐borne tumor cells (TCs) arriving to the liver sinusoids run into a special vascular bed. The lining of liver sinusoids is shared by Kupffer cells (KCs) and endothelial cells. KCs, liver‐fixed macrophages, are responsible for detection and removal of “non‐self” particles.

T Chang, K Young, Y Yang, H Lei, H Wu – 1 May 1996 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can infect peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with chronic HCV infection. No data are available on PBMC testing for HCV RNA in acute hepatitis C. This study investigated the presence of HCV RNA in PBMC of patients with acute posttransfusion hepatitis C, compared with those with chronic HCV infection.

K Ohnishi, F Nomura, S Ito, K Fujiwara – 1 May 1996 – To assess the efficacy of ultrasound (US)‐guided percutaneous acetic acid (in concentrations of 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%) injection for small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) for long‐term prognosis, percutaneous acetic acid injection using 15% to 50% acetic acid was performed in 91 patients with one to four HCCs smaller than 3 cm during the past 6.5 years. During the series of treatment sessions for each patient, the same concentration of acetic acid was used.

Carlos A. Camargo, Mary K. Washington, J. Gregory Fitz, Pierre‐Alain Clavien – 1 May 1996

F Cetta, F Lombardo, M Giubbolini, C Baldi, A Cariati – 1 May 1996

M Chenard‐Neu, K Boudjema, J Bernuau, C Degott, J Belghiti, D Cherqui, V Costes, J Domergue, F Durand, J Erhard, B De Hemptinne, G Gubernatis, A Hadengue, J Kemnitz, M McCarthy, H Maschek, G Mentha, K Oldhafer, B Portmann, M Praet, J Ringers, X Rogiers, L Rubbia, S Schalm, F T Kate, O Terpstra, B Van Hoek, R Williams, E Zafrani, J Cinqualbre, P Wolf, D Jaeck, J Bellocq – 1 May 1996 – Auxiliary liver transplantation (LT) is a special procedure of LT which could be proposed to patients with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) and has for aim that complete regeneration of the native liver (NL) lef

E L Cancado, L S Vilas‐Boas, C P Abrantes‐Lemos, N F Novo, G Porta, L C Da Silva, A A Laudanna – 1 May 1996 – In autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), the smooth‐muscle antibody is specific for polymerized actin. Detection of antiactin antibody (AAA) has been hampered by technical problems. We have investigated AAA in 30 sera from patients with liver diseases and smooth‐muscle antibody. AAA was detected by indirect immunofluorescence in 1:40, 1:80, and 1:160 dilutions.

K Chayama, A Tsubota, M Kobayashi, M Hashimoto, Y Miyano, H Koike, M Kobayashi, I Koida, Y Arase, S Saitoh, N Murashima, K Ikeda, H Kumada – 1 May 1996 – Interferon treatment reduces the serum level of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and improves inflammatory activity, but relapse is frequently observed. In an attempt to develop a new therapeutic strategy that may reduce relapse and cure the disease, we evaluated the effect of corticosteroid priming on lymphoblastoid interferon alfa in an open randomized clinical trial.

M Delhaye, H Louis, C Degraef, O Le Moine, J Deviere, B Gulbis, D Jacobovitz, M Adler, P Galand – 1 May 1996 – Hepatocyte proliferative activity is elevated in cirrhotic patients who develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and decreased in alcohol‐induced hepatitis patients with poor outcome. Hepatocyte proliferative activity has not been evaluated in an unselected population of cirrhotic patients regarding the severity of the disease.

E B Martins, A K Graham, R W Chapman, K A Fleming – 1 May 1996 – Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease that is possibly an autoimmune disease. Although γδ T cells represent a small proportion of the total T‐cell population in healthy individuals, there is evidence to suggest a role for these cells in autoimmunity. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the population of γδ T cells in patients with PSC, compared with other chronic liver diseases.