Week 5: Nina

This week, I saw a living donor transplant and a open surgery to obtain a liver biopsy. I also went to Dr. Samstein's clinic on Thursday and saw a variety of cases. I saw patients post-op from surgery the prior week and was able to see CT images from liver cancer cases. One of the most interesting things I saw this week was a case of benign liver tumors from hormonal birth control. I learned oral contraceptive pills can lead to liver tumors in female patients, especially if the pills are taken for a long period of time or decades. While there are many symptoms of birth control that can be temporary, I learned there, small, but non-zero, chance of developing liver tumors from the high amounts of estrogen that the liver metabolizes. I had not seen cases of liver tumors from suspected birth control-related reasons, so this really peaked my interest. I learned the importance of in-vitro models to study hepatocyte drug-induced reactions, as these models are typically cheaper than clinical trials, but can provide vital information to guide patient use for drugs like oral contraceptives. I am still reading more papers on normothermic liver perfusion and hope to begin sample analysis soon.