[The history of kidney transplantation in Germany].

In 1910 Ernst Unger started kidney transplantation in Germany, when he tried to cure an uremic patient in Berlin by transplanting a monkey kidney. But it was not until 1963 that the urologists Brosig and Nagel - again in Berlin - began relevant clinical renal transplantation. In the late sixties the teams in Munich and Heidelberg took over the main initiative.

Causative factors, surgical treatment and outcome of incisional hernia after liver transplantation.

Background: Little is known about the incidence and causes of herniation, and the results of hernia repair in patients undergoing liver transplantation. Likewise, nothing is known about the best surgical approach for hernia repair.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of the occurrence of incisional hernia in 290 patients who had liver transplantation between 1990 and 2000, and survived more than 6 months.

Serum bile acids in liver transplantation--early indicator for acute rejection and monitor for antirejection therapy.

We studied the course of serum bile acids to investigate its reliability in the diagnosis of acute rejection after liver transplantation in relation to pathohistological findings. Serum bile acid concentration, bilirubin and transaminases were measured in 41 patients who underwent liver transplantation. Their course was correlated to liver biopsy.

Relevance of two-stage total hepatectomy and liver transplantation in acute liver failure and severe liver trauma.

Emergency liver transplantation frequently is the only life-saving procedure in cases of acute liver failure. It remains unclear whether emergency hepatectomy with portocaval shunt followed by liver transplantation as a two-stage procedure should be performed in cases in which a donor organ is not yet available. It has been stated that "toxic liver syndrome" could be treated by means of this strategy.