Harold O. Conn – 1 September 1986 – A prospective randomized trial was conducted in all comers with cirrhosis and bleeding varices comparing 1) emergency portacaval shunt (EPCS) performed within 8 hr of admission, with 2) emergency medical therapy (EMT) followed in 2–6 wks by elective portacaval shunt in survivors. All patients received identical supportive therapy initially, and the EMT group received vasopressin in continuous infusion and, if necessary, esophageal balloon tamponade to control varix bleeding.

John H. Helzberg – 1 September 1986

1 September 1986

1 September 1986

Christian Gluud, The Copenhagen Study Group for Liver Diseases – 1 September 1986 – A double‐blind, placebo‐controlled multicenter trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of oral testosterone treatment (200 mg three times daily) in men with alcoholic cirrhosis. By skewed randomization (3:2), 134 patients received testosterone and 87 placebo. Patients were followed from 8 to 62 months (median = 28 months). In the testosterone group, 33 patients died (25%; 95% confidence limits = 18 to 33%) as compared to 18 (21%; 95% confidence limits = 13 to 31%) in the placebo group.

Rolf Hultcrantz, Silwa Mengarelli, Birgitta Strandvik – 1 September 1986 – Liver tissue from five children with cystic fibrosis, obtained through percutaneous liver biopsies, have been investigated via light and electron microscopy. None of the patients had clinical evidence of liver disorder, and their blood chemistry was mainly normal.

George J. Brewer, I. Herbert Scheinberg – 1 September 1986 – After initial promotion of copper excretion with D‐penicillamine, the effect of oral zinc sulphate (3×150 mg/day, loading dose; 3×100 mg/day, maintenance dose) in two children with clinically stable Wilson's disease was evaluated after completion of three years' treatment. The course, judged by clinical, biochemical, and histological parameters was satisfactory in both. The urinary copper concentration reverted to less than 1.26 μmol/24 hours; and the serum copper concentration decreased further during zinc sulphate treatment.

Walter J. Hogan – 1 September 1986

Robert H. Collins, Leon Lack, Kenneth M. Harman, Paul G. Killenberg – 1 July 1986 – A monoclonal antibody, PK1B, directed against rat liver bile acid sulfotransferase was used for the purification and characterization of the enzyme. Incubation of rat liver supernatant with the antibody followed by immunoprecipitation with Staphylococcus aureus cells demonstrated that PK1B reacted with 90% of the enzymatic activity present in the liver supernatant from female rats and 40 to 50% of the activity in male liver preparations.

Arieh Bomzon, Moshe Rosenberg, Devorah Gali, Ofer Binah, Dani Mordechovitz, Ori S. Better, Paul D. Greig, Laurence M. Blendis – 1 July 1986 – Vascular instability as defined by systemic hypotension and unresponsiveness to endogenous or exogenous vasoactive substances is a feature of both patients and experimental animals with obstructive jaundice. In this study, we have attempted to dissect the possible mechanisms for these abnormalities using both in vivo and in vitro methods.