Liver-related diseases, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cirrhosis, are globally prevalent and significantly contribute to mortality rates. Despite the availability of various imaging techniques for liver evaluation, a consensus regarding the selection of an accurate and safe method remains elusive. As a non-invasive imaging approach, the effectiveness of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in assisting the diagnosis and treatment of liver-related diseases has been established. Compared to conventional methods, CEUS offers notable advantages, including high safety, convenience, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness. Recent advancements have demonstrated the expanded utility of CEUS in liver-related diseases. In addition to diagnosing focal liver lesions, CEUS is increasingly employed for guiding local treatments, assessing liver transplantation suitability, and planning surgical interventions. However, its application requires caution due to the high technical proficiency demanded of operators, time-sensitive imaging processes, and susceptibility to visual interference. This review summarizes the current applications and recent advancements in CEUS-assisted diagnosis and treatment of liver-related diseases, explores its future potential, and proposes possible improvements. The objective is to enhance the accuracy and versatility of non-invasive liver assessments and provide a reference for the broader and more effective utilization of CEUS in liver disease diagnosis and management.

Improving public willingness toward organ donation is an important solution to the low organ donation rate. This study aimed to explore factors impacting public willingness for organ donation in China from a multi-agent perspective and further explore the impact of these factors on high or low willingness, using a social–ecological framework. Data from a total of 11,028 (effective rate, 94.18%) participants were analysed. Generalised linear model (GLM) and quantile regression were used to explore factors associated with willingness and high/low willingness toward organ donation, respectively. The mean willingness toward organ donation was 56.9 (range, 0–100) points. GLM regression revealed that age, family health, males, lower educational levels, and agricultural hukou were negatively associated with willingness. For personality, conscientiousness was negatively associated with willingness, whereas openness was positively associated with willingness. Health literacy perceived social support, and media utilisation were positively associated with willingness. Quantile regression further indicated that educational levels of college, bachelor, master’s, and PhD, openness, health literacy, perceived social support, and media utilisation were positively associated with organ donation willingness at all percentiles. It is necessary to adopt more targeted and diversified publicity, education, and guidance for different types of individuals. Meanwhile, social support needs to be strengthened. To enhance the willingness of the residents to donate organs, media publicity should be strengthened, particularly by using modern ways to improve their health literacy.

Introduction: Trace elements in the environment are considered significant risk factors for chronic liver disease. However, the impact of blood metal levels on the incidence of liver fibrosis or cirrhosis has not been fully assessed. Our study investigated the correlation between metal mixture exposure and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis as well as the mediating effect between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database from 2017 to 2020. Transient elastography was used to identify NAFLD and liver fibrosis or cirrhosis. Various statistical models have been applied to evaluate the relationship between blood metal mixtures and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. The role of metal mixtures in NAFLD-associated liver fibrosis/cirrhosis was explored using a mediation analysis. Results: In the fully adjusted logistic models, selenium was negatively correlated with liver fibrosis [odds ratio (OR) = 0.219, P = 0.039) and cirrhosis (OR = 0.007, P = 0.003). In the weighted quantile sum and quantile-based g-computation models, selenium showed the highest contribution to liver fibrosis (0.544 and 0.578) and cirrhosis (0.538 and 0.630, respectively). Bayesian kernel machine regression and restricted cubic splines models indicated an L-shaped association between selenium and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. Selenium negatively mediated the relationship between NAFLD and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis according to the mediation analysis (−3.4% and −13.3%). Conclusions: Selenium shows an L-shaped relationship with liver fibrosis and cirrhosis and plays a negative mediating role in the association between NAFLD and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. Blood selenium is a promising biomarker for chronic liver diseases, and supplemental selenium intake might contribute to the prevention and management of liver fibrosis/cirrhosis.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the use of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) to assess the kidneys' quality before procurement.

ABO blood group antibodies have not been generated or are at low titer during early infancy. Therefore, in theory, ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation (ABOi KT) may be successfully achieved in small infants without any pre-transplant treatment. We report here the first ABO-incompatible deceased donor kidney transplantation (ABOi DDKT) in an infant. The recipient infant was ABO blood group O, and the donor group A. The recipient was diagnosed with a Wilms tumor gene 1 (WT1) mutation and had received peritoneal dialysis for 4 months prior to transplant. At 7 months and 27 days of age, the infant underwent bilateral native nephrectomy and single-kidney transplantation from a 3-year-old brain-dead donor. No pre- or post-transplantation antibody removal treatment was performed, since the recipient's anti-iso-hemagglutinin-A Ig-M/G antibody titers were both low (1:2) before transplantation and have remained at low levels or undetectable to date. At 11 months post-transplant, the recipient is at home, thriving, with normal development and graft function. This outcome suggests that ABOi DDKT without antibody removal preparatory treatment is feasible in small infants, providing a new option for kidney transplantation in this age range.