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Background: Psychosocial disorders ranging from anxiety to severe psychiatric diseases and active alcohol/substance abuse are frequent in liver transplant candidates and potentially associated with worse post-transplant outcomes. Therefore, psychosocial evaluation is mandatory to optimize success after liver transplantation. However, how to carry out this evaluation, the type of intervention needed and its potential impact on patient outcome remain unclear.Objectives: To investigate whether psychosocial assessment may help in predicting risks of poor outcome; and to investigate whether psychosocial interventions may mitigate these risks and improve posttransplant outcomes, in particular compliance and speed of recovery.Data sources: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Central.Methods: Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines and recommendations using the GRADE approach derived from an international expert panel. The protocol

BackgroundCirrhosis has been reported as an important risk factor for death in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on the natural course of cirrhosis before and after starting vaccination.MethodsThe cirrhosis patients in our cohort (n: 140; median age:56; 71 female) were included in this study. The median MELD (Model For End-stage Liver Disease) score was 11 (6–25) and CCI (Charlson Comorbidity Index) score was 4 (1–11). In total, 85 had CTP (Child-Turcotte-Pugh)-A, 44 had CTP-B and 11 had CTP-C cirrhosis. The course of COVID-19 in this patient group was evaluated before and after COVID-19 vaccination.ResultsBetween March 2020 and January 2021, 36 of the 140 cirrhosis patients had developed COVID-19. Cirrhosis (+)/COVID-19 (+) and Cirrhosis (+)/COVID-19 (–) groups did not differ in terms of age, CCI and MELD-Na scores, or gender. There were six deaths in the Cirrhosis (+)/COVID-19 (+) group and five in the Cirrhosis (+)/COVID-19 (–) group [6/36 (16.6%) vs. 5/104 (4.8%); p: 0.03]. Patients who died were older, had higher CCI and MELD-Na scores, and lower albumin levels. Having had COVID-19 [6.45 (1.43–29.4); p: 0.015], higher MELD-Na score [1.35 (1.18–1.60); p: 0.001] and higher CCI score [1.65 (1.14–2.39); p: 0.008] were found to be independent predictors of mortality. After effective vaccination started in Turkey, only 11 of the remaining 129 patients developed COVID-19, and only one patient died, who was unvaccinated.DiscussionIn our cirrhotic cohort, COVID-19 disease was associated with 16% mortality in the pre-vaccination period. COVID-19 vaccination prevents serious illness and death due to COVID-19 in cirrhotic patients.

After a virtual congress in 2021 and a previous absence in 2020 because of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the 27th Annual Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society was held from May 4 to 7, 2022, in a hybrid format in Istanbul, with 1123 (58% on-site) liver transplant professionals from 61 countries attending the meeting. The hybrid format successfully achieved a balance of much yearned-for “in-person interaction” and global online participation. Almost 500 scientific abstracts were presented. In this report, the Vanguard Committee aims to present a summary of key invited lectures and selected abstracts for the liver transplant community.

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After a 1-y absence due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the 26th Annual Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society was held from May 15 to 18, 2021, in a virtual format. Clinicians and researchers from all over the world came together to share their knowledge on all the aspects of liver transplantation (LT). Apart from a focus on LT in times of coronavirus disease 2019, featured topics of this year’s conference included infectious diseases in LT, living donation, machine perfusion, oncology, predictive scoring systems and updates in anesthesia/critical care, immunology, radiology, pathology, and pediatrics. This report presents highlights from invited lectures and a review of the select abstracts. The aim of this report, generated by the Vanguard Committee of International Liver Transplantation Society, is to provide a summary of the most recent developments in clinical practice and research in LT.

Behçet's disease (BD) is multisystemic vasculitis with heterogeneous clinical manifestations. We describe the case of a 26-year-old man who presented with Budd–Chiari syndrome (BCS) related to BD. The patient received infliximab (IFX) due to the severity of vascular involvement. Subsequently, after IFX therapy, hospital-acquired pneumonia, trapped lung, and fungal infection of the lung and central nervous system developed as complications. The patient benefited from a second course of IFX and clinical remission was achieved following early identification and treatment of complications. Data on the presentation and prognosis of BCS related to BD are extremely limited. Our case report supports the growing evidence that anti-TNF antibody is a promising treatment for BD-related BCS.

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