The drug warfarin may help prevent liver failure in thousands of people with Hepatitis C, according to new research.

Ninety-six per cent of children who have received liver transplants from living relations are still alive five years after surgery, according to research published in the July issue of the British Journal of Surgery.

A new retrospective study on the effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on children with acute liver failure not caused by acetaminophen poisoning has found that the treatment was associated with a shorter hospital stay, higher incidence of liver recovery, and better survival after transplantation.

Portal venous tumor thrombus (PVTT) is a crucial factor that can worsen the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It often leads to extensive spreading of the tumor throughout the liver, and can increase portal venous blood pressure, resulting in the fatal rupture of esophageal varices, and can decrease portal flow which causes ascites, jaundice, hepatic encephalopathy, and liver failure.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have a developed a totally new approach to treating liver failure – manipulating the immune response.

Diets rich in rapidly-digested carbohydrates not only expand waistlines, but may also cause fatty liver, a condition that can lead to liver failure and death, finds a new study in mice. If confirmed in humans, the findings suggest that fatty liver disease – on the upsurge among Americans as a byproduct of the obesity epidemic – may be preventable and possibly treatable through dietary changes. The study appears in the September issue of the journal Obesity.

Cognitive impairment is one of the neurological effects in patients with hepatic encephalopathy (abnormal brain function due to severe liver disease). For the first time, a new study showed that treatment with an anti-inflammatory improves cognitive function in rats induced with chronic liver failure.

Fatal paracetamol poisonings (acetaminophen) fell after a law introduced in the UK restricted the number of tablets that could be sold across the counter. But new research has concluded that this reduction may not have been a result of the change in the law.