Use of non-invasive scales for detecting esophageal varices in paediatric patients with portal vein thrombosis.

Introduction: Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is the most frequent cause of portal hypertension in paediatric population. Baveno VI Consensus considers endoscopic variceal ligation as the second therapeutic option after meso-Rex bypass (surgical shunt).

Aim: Analyse the diagnostic profitability of non-invasive scales in order to predict the risk of oesophageal varices (OV) in children with PVT.

T-tube or no T-tube in cadaveric orthotopic liver transplantation: the eternal dilemma: results of a prospective and randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To compare the incidence and severity of biliary complications due to liver transplantation after choledochocholedochostomy with or without a T-tube in a single-center, prospective, randomized trial.

Summary Background Data: The usefulness of the T-tube for end-to-end biliary anastomosis to reduce the incidence of biliary complications in patients undergoing liver transplantation has been controversial.

Methods: A per-protocol analysis was designed for liver recipients, who were randomly assigned to choledochocholedochostomy with (n = 95) or without (n = 92) a T-tube.

Clinical outcome of hepatocyte transplantation in four pediatric patients with inherited metabolic diseases.

Hepatocyte transplantation (HT) has become an effective therapy for patients with metabolic inborn errors. We report the clinical outcome of four children with metabolic inborn errors that underwent HT, describing the cell infusion protocol and the metabolic outcome of transplanted patients. Cryopreserved hepatocytes were used as this allows scheduling of treatments.

[Donors yesterday and today: have the characteristics of liver donors changed over the last 15 years?].

Introduction: The social, medical and demographic changes of our population and the increase in the number of patients on waiting lists have led to some changes in the selection criteria of organ donors.

Material And Method: A retrospective, descriptive and comparative study of the liver cadaveric donors features accepted in the Liver Transplant Unit in La Fe University Hospital of Valencia (Spain) in 2 different periods. We distributed the cases into 2 groups, including in group A the first 200 first donors (from January 1991 to June 1995) and in group B the last 200 donors (from February 2004 to December 2005).