According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1.5 to 2 million Americans are infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Prior studies have shown there to be significant racial differences in access to and outcomes of liver transplantation. Recently, doctors from across the U.S. conducted a multicenter retrospective-prospective study of the waitlist status and outcomes of liver transplant patients with HBV infection.

Even mild cases of acute kidney injury after liver transplantation are associated with lower survival for both the patient and the graft. With more severe kidney injury, outcomes are even worse. These findings are in the May issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons. The article is also available online at Wiley Interscience.

A new study suggests that patients with hepatitis C (HCV) who need a liver transplant should not receive an organ with high levels of fatty deposits (a.k.a. hepatic steatosis).

Hepatic injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) has been proposed as a key clinical problem associated with liver transplantation and major liver surgery.

Following introduction of a new system in 2002 to determine the allocation of donated livers, black patients no longer are less likely to receive a liver transplant, but disparities for women remain, according to a study in the November 26 issue of JAMA.

A new Canadian study comparing cancer rates of liver transplant patients to those of the general population has found that transplant recipients face increased risks of developing cancer, especially non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and colorectal cancer. Risks were more pronounced during the first year of follow-up and among younger transplant recipients.

The pain is debilitating. The only option: smoking medical marijuana. That's the reality for many hepatitis C patients whose road to health includes a liver transplant. Although Canadian transplant centres are more willing than those in the United States, not everyone says yes to liver patients who smoke marijuana, and a University of Alberta researcher says that decision-making process is unacceptable.

Cancer incidence is higher among liver transplant recipients in Finland compared to the general population, according to a new study in the October issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal by John Wiley & Sons.

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.

Can split liver transplantation reliably yield grafts for two adults? Experts consider this question alongside new findings about the procedure in the July issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal by John Wiley & Sons.

Nearly 9 percent of patients who recently underwent liver transplantation suffered a subsequent surgical site infection (SSI). Risk factors included having had biliary-enteric anastomosis (choledocho-jejunal or hepatic-jejunal reconstruction), previous liver or kidney transplant, and more than four red blood cell units transfused.

Chronic liver disease patients often have low systemic vascular resistance that causes low blood pressure before liver transplant, but after receiving a new liver, they may suffer post-operative heart problems that leave the left ventricle unable to pump out an adequate amount of blood. This situation puts patients at a greater risk of organ failure and death.