1 November 1992

Giovanna Fattovich, Giuliano Giustina, Lucio Brollo, Maria Guido, Patrizia Pontisso, Franco Noventa, Alfredo Alberti – 1 November 1992 – About one third of patients with chronic hepatitis B show a sustained response when treated with interferon‐α. Combining interferon‐α with immunomodulators might be a way to increase response rate. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of lymphoblastoid interferon‐α given alone with its efficacy when combined with levamisole in chronic hepatitis B.

Takehiro Mitsui, Keiko Iwano, Kazuo Masuko, Chikao Yamazaki, Hiroaki Okamoto, Fumio Tsuda, Takeshi Tanaka, Shunji Mishiro – 1 November 1992 – Hepatitis C virus infections in medical personnel after needlestick accidents have been documented generally by detection of seroconversion to a hepatitis C virus nonstructural region antigen, c100‐3 (a marker of infection). We tested for hepatitis C virus core‐derived antibodies and genomic RNA in addition to c100‐3 antibody in 159 cases of needlestick exposure that did not involve patients positive for HBsAg.

Jeffrey L. Barnett – 1 November 1992 – Background. Emergency surgery for patients with severe acute cholangitis due to choledocholithiasis is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Because recent results suggested that emergency endoscopic drainage could improve the outcome of such patients, we undertook a prospective study to determine the role of this procedure as initial treatment.

Toshiaki Nonami, Itsuo Yokoyama, Shunzaburo Iwatsuki, Thomas E. Starzl – 1 November 1992 – The incidence of portal vein thrombosis was examined in 885 patients who received orthotopic liver transplantations for various end‐stage liver diseases between 1989 and 1990. The thrombosis was classified into four grades. Grade 1 was thrombosis of intrahepatic portal vein branches, grade 2 was thrombosis of the right or left portal branch or at the bifurcation, grade 3 was partial obstruction of the portal vein trunk, and grade 4 was complete obstruction of the portal vein trunk.

Neil Kaplowitz – 1 November 1992

Richard Sallie, Leah Katsiyiannakis, Dianne Baldwin, Sue Davies, John O'Grady, Alex Mowat, Giorgina Mieli‐Vergani, Roger Williams – 1 November 1992 – Serum, urine and tissue biochemical findings were studied in 21 cases of fulminant Wilson's disease with respect to the value of a recently described biochemical index based on serum alkaline phosphatase and total serum bilirubin levels, and these cases were compared with 193 other cases of fulminant liver failure.

Stuart I. Myers, Lori Bartula – 1 November 1992 – Microsomal prostanoid synthesis was compared in normal gallbladders removed during organ donation and inflamed gallbladders removed at cholecystectomy. Normal human gallbladder microsomes demonstrated low rates of conversion of [14C]arachidonic acid to total labeled prostanoids, which increased during 1 to 30 min of incubation. Normal human gallbladder microsomes converted labeled substrate to all primary prostaglandins without demonstration of a major product.

Lynne W. Elmore, Alphonse E. Sirica – 1 November 1992 – Furan rapidly induces in rat liver a unique, lobespecific pattern of development of intestinal metaplasia and associated cholangiofibrosis. To establish early cell‐precursor relationships in the genesis of this cholangiofibrosis, a time‐course study was conducted in which young adult male Fisher 344 rats received furan by gavage at a daily dose of 45 mg/kg body wt over a 32‐day treatment period.

Anna Mae Diehl, Shi Qi Yang, Piera Cote, Gary S. Wand – 1 November 1992 – Evidence suggests that ethanol desensitizes hepatocytes to the trophic effects of hormones. Cyclic AMP–dependent signals are important regulators of intermediary metabolism, cellular proliferation and differentiation, and modulate liver growth during hepatic regeneration.