Mayumi Hasegawa, Sadako Yamada, Chisato Hirayama – 1 December 1989 – Fasting plasma caffeine concentrations, plasma levels of catecholamines and plasma renin activity were measured in patients with cirrhosis and control patients without hepatic dysfunction. A careful dietary history showed no significant difference in caffeine consumption (mean ± S.E.) among 46 cirrhotics (86 ± 7 mg per day) vs. 34 control patients (91 ± 8 mg per day).

Jaime Bosch, Roberto J. Groszmann, Joan C. García‐Pagán, Josep Terés, Guadalupe García‐Tsao, Miquel Navasa, Antoni Mas, Joan Rodés – 1 December 1989 – The aim of this study was to evaluate, using a doubleblind technique, the efficacy of the association of transdermal nitroglycerin to vasopressin infusion for the treatment of variceal bleeding.

Jorge E. Valenzuela, Timothy Schubert, M. Ronald Fogel, Richard M. Strong, Joel Levine, Peter R. Mills, Thomas L. Fabry, Linda W. Taylor, Harold O. Conn, James T. Posillico, A Multicenter Study Group – 1 December 1989 – A prospective, randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, multicenter clinical trial of intravenous somatostatin (Stilamin®; Serono Laboratories, Inc., Randolph, MA) was performed in 102 patients with actively bleeding esophageal varices from August, 1985, to November, 1986.

Ricardo Mastaï, P.‐Michel Huet, Antoine Brault, Jocelyne Belgiorno – 1 December 1989 – It has been suggested that hepatocyte enlargement can lead to compression of the extracellular space (sinusoidal and interstitial) and induce portal hypertension. However, this hypothesis has never been tested by measuring the vascular and extravascular spaces in the intact liver. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of chronic alcohol intake on the hepatic microcirculation using Goresky's multiple‐indicator dilution technique in the isolated perfused rat liver.

Samuel S. Lee, S. Gaiani, L. Bolondi, L. Barbara – 1 December 1989

Samuel S. Lee – 1 December 1989 – Experiments were carried out to determine the accuracy and validity of estimations of hepatic blood flow from systemic clearances of ethanol during very low dose (8 μmol. min.−1· kg−1) infusions of ethanol in anesthetized cats. Systemic clearances were compared with directly measured hepatic blood flow using a hepatic venous longcircuit technique. This technique allowed direct measurement and alteration of hepatic blood flow and collection of arterial, portal, and hepatic venous blood samples without depletion of the animal's blood volume.

Chia‐Ming Chu, Yun‐Fan Liaw – 1 December 1989 – To evaluate the immune process involved in the pathogenesis of liver cell damage in chronic hepatitis delta virus infection, a panel of monoclonal antibodies against pan T cells (Leu 4), inducer/helper T cells (Leu 3a+3b), suppressor/cytotoxic T cells (Lue 2a), B cell (Leu 12), monocyts/macrophages (Leu M3) and NK/K cells (Leu 7) was used to characterize the subsets of the mononuclear cell infiltrates in livers from 12 patients with chronic type D hepatitis, with special emphasis on the areas of periportal piecemeal necrosis and intralobular n

E. Randy Eckert – 1 December 1989

Dan W. Elliott – 1 December 1989 – The correct timing of surgery in cases of gallstone pancreatitis is debatable. To delineate more clearly the influence of the timing of surgery in the treatment of the disease, a prospective randomized clinical study of early surgery (less than 48 hours after admission) and delayed surgery (more than 48 hours after admission) was conducted in 165 patients.

James S. Malter, Michael A. Gerber – 1 December 1989