0000000000599972
AUTHOR
G. Greif-higer
Urinary ethyl glucuronide (uEtG) as a marker for alcohol consumption in liver transplant candidates: a real-world cohort
In order to reduce alcohol relapse after liver transplantation (LT), the German national guidelines for waiting-list maintenance and organ allocation demand a minimum 6-month period of alcohol abstinence pre-LT, confirmed by measuring urinary ethyl glucuronide (uEtG). Between January 2015 and June 2016, uEtG was measured at least once in 339 cirrhotic patients with an indication for LT at the University Medical Center Mainz. uEtG was measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening test (cutoff value: 500 µg/L). For uEtG values ≥ 500 µg/L, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was performed as a confirmatory assay. Data were collected prospectively in a tra…
Psychological Conflicts Between Relatives During the Long-Term Course After Successful Living Organ Donation
The German transplantation law prefers living organ donation between close relatives and spouses, which is assumed to guarantee unequivocal altruistic motivation. Since 2001, 68 recipient-donor-pairs, who aspired to have a renal or liver transplantation, underwent a systematic psychosomatic evaluation. Meanwhile, 43 transplantations were performed including 34 renal and 9 liver cases. Seventeen recipient-donor-pairs were readministered evaluations by the department of psychosomatic medicine after 1 to 6 years after transplantation for long-term follow-up. In 10 cases of medically successful transplantation, we identified severe conflicts between donor, recipient, and next-of-kin. Major conf…
Efficacy of an escalating dose regimen of pegylated interferon ?-2a plus ribavirin in the early phase of HCV reinfection after liver transplantation
We evaluated the safety and efficacy of an escalating dose regimen of pegylated interferon alpha-2a (PEG-IFN(alpha-2a)) and ribavirin in the early phase of recurrent hepatitis C after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). In this prospective study, 26 patients transplanted for hepatitis C virus cirrhosis with recurrent hepatitis C were treated 3.4 +/- 3.6 months after OLT and compared with an untreated historical control. PEG-IFN(alpha-2a) was initiated as monotherapy, following stepwise dose escalation up to 180 mug/week and the addition of ribavirin up to 1200 mg/day or maximally tolerated doses for 48 weeks. In the intent-to-treat analysis, 38% showed an early virological response (EVR…