liver transplantation

SAN FRANCISCO (MedPage Today) -- Donor age did not affect recipient survival after liver transplantation over the past five years, data from a single-center experience showed.

MONTREAL (MedPage Today) -- Neither an intracardiac shunt nor pulmonary hypertension should be contraindications to orthotopic liver transplantation, an echocardiography study suggested.

(MedPage Today) -- Problem drinking after liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease can be predicted by looking at just a few factors, a prospective study showed.

(Wiley-Blackwell) Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco propose that treatments used on liver cancers beyond the established Milan criteria for liver transplantation may be appropriate for all patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who are listed for transplantation.

Full details appear in the August issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

(Wiley-Blackwell) Researchers at the UCLA Medical Center found that antiviral therapy during compensated cirrhosis, when compared with all other strategies, is the most cost-effective approach to treating patients with advanced liver disease due to hepatitis C (HCV) infection.

Full details appear in the June issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

The rapid evolution of clinical experience in liver transplantation during recent years has prompted several leading organizations to revisit the general recommendations used in patient selection and organ allocation, a new report revealed.

A liver transplantation education campaign for waitlisted candidates that included real stories about living donors dramatically increased donation rates by friends and families, researchers said.

LITTLE FALLS, N.J. (MedPage Today) -- A donor's age and other identifiable characteristics appear to worsen outcomes for liver transplant recipients, particularly those who are hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive.

But steatosis alone in the donor's liver should not be a disqualifier, according to two new studies.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an investigative report on the liver transplant program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center which provided a troubling view of some the issues affecting US health care.

Let me summarize the main points, as I would like to organize them, using quotes from the article, and my parenthetic comments.

Liver Transplantation Strategies at UPMC were Aggressive and Risky