Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a common viral infection in pediatric liverPrior to 2001, the incidence of PTLD at our institution was 16%. After instituting a protocol for EBV monitoring, the incidence of PTLD decreased to 2% (p-value < 0.05). These findings illustrate that frequent EBV viral load monitoring and preemptive immunosuppression modulation have an integral role in preventing PTLD in the pediatric liver transplant population.

In stark contrast to short-term survival, there have been no appreciable improvements in long-term survival following liver transplantation among 1-year survivors. Long-term sequelae of immunosuppression, including malignancy and infection, are the most common causes of death. This study highlights the need for better long-term immunosuppression management.

These data indicate that survivals after transplantation for HEH are favorable. Given the propensity for recurrence after resection, these data support consideration of liver transplantation for all patients with significant intrahepatic tumor burden.

Liver tumors in childhood are rare and are typically not detected clinically until they reach a large size and often spread within the organ or metastasize. This can make surgical resection problematic, and almost all of them require extirpation for cure. With very effective chemotherapy for hepatoblastoma and to some extent for sarcomas, many cancers can be shrunk to permit partial hepatectomy, but for most hepatocarcinomas, some of the other malignancies, and even some benign proliferations, their location at the hilum and multiplicity of masses in multiple lobes make transplantation the treatment of choice. Major advances in diagnostic imaging, especially enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, permit a preoperative choice of resection versus transplantation to be achieved in almost all instances, and for the remainder, intraoperative ultrasonography can further help to determine the most desirable approach. The outcome is very much better in the case of hepatoblastoma when transplantation is a primary modality rather than following unsuccessful attempts at resection. In this review, transplantation for liver tumors in children is considered from all aspects, including the importance of screening for tumors whenever possible to avoid the need for transplantation. Liver Transpl 14: 1545-1556, 2008.

The etiopathogenesis of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) remains undefined. Immunopathogenetic mechanisms appear to be involved, based on human leukocyte antigen complex susceptibility associations, existence of multiple autoantibodies, and presence of inflammatory bowel disease in > 75% of patients. PSC may represent an autoimmune disease with atypical features or an immune-mediated inflammatory disease, similar to inflammatory bowel disease itself. Immunogenetic susceptibility is closely linked to ligands for innate immune cells and capacity for sustained production of proinflammatory cytokines. Immunopathogenesis involves a multistep process initiated by the activation of cholangiocyte by bacterial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (stimuli of innate immunity) and proinflammatory cytokines in conjunction with aberrant expression of gut-specific chemokines and endothelial cell adhesion molecules in the liver. After recruitment of gut-primed memory T cells into the portal tracts and peribiliary space, additional mechanisms produce focal, fibrous, obliterative lesions. Progressive periductal fibrosis, chronic inflammation, and ischemic atrophy of biliary epithelia result in ductopenia, cholestasis, and obstructive strictures, culminating in secondary biliary cirrhosis.