Long-term impact of scheduled regular endoscopic interventions for patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Background: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is associated with biliary obstructions that can require endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). While the beneficial effects of ERCP are well documented, follow-up interventional strategies are less defined, and their long-term impact is debated.

Methods: We evaluated the outcome of a scheduled program of ERCP-guided interventions that have been developed and implemented at our tertiary liver center for more than 20 years.

Liver Regeneration-Related Cytokine Profiles in Donors and Recipients Before and After Living-Donor Liver Transplant.

Objectives: The liver's capability to completely regenerate after injury is a unique phenomenon in which cytokines are of particular interest. Here, we aimed to assess the release patterns and prognostic relevance of liver regeneration-related cytokines in the setting of living-donor liver transplant.

Materials And Methods: Eleven cytokines related to liver regeneration (hepatocyte growth factor, interleukin 6, insulin-like growth factor-1, tumor necrosis factor alpha, transforming growth factor beta, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, stem cell factor, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 12, angiogenin, fibroblast growth factor-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor) were compared in 13 living-donor liver transplant recipients and their corresponding donors before and daily (10 days) after transplant.

Multiple plastic stents versus covered metal stent for treatment of anastomotic biliary strictures after liver transplantation: a prospective, randomized, multicenter trial.

Background And Aims: Treatment of anastomotic biliary strictures (ABSs) after orthotopic liver transplantation by endoscopic insertion of multiple plastic stents (MPSs) is well established. The use of covered self-expandable metal stents (cSEMSs) for this indication is less investigated.

Methods: In an open-label, multicenter, randomized trial, patients with confirmed ABSs were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive either an MPS or a cSEMS.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progresses to hepatocellular carcinoma in the absence of apparent cirrhosis.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease in developed countries, and accumulating evidence suggests it as the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome (MS). Although the published prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is low in NAFLD/NASH patients, most of these data have been derived from areas endemic for viral hepatitis. We recruited 162 adults with HCC between February 2007 and March 2008, investigated the underlying etiologies and determined the prevalence of the MS and related features within each group.

Quantitative liver function tests in donors and recipients of living donor liver transplantation.

The unique ability of the liver to regenerate quickly after resection makes living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) possible. This technique uses the unique ability of the liver to regenerate to full size after partial resection. However, the quality and course of this regeneration process in humans are still widely unexplored.