The opening session reported that we are making progress in supporting the failing liver (Wendon, London, UK). Current optimism should probably be limited to extracorporeal methods, because the molecular adsorbent recirculating system (essentially extracorporeal albumin dialysis) has been shown to have beneficial clinical effects as well as improved survival in two small randomized controlled trials [8, 9] . The equipment is familiar to all those who use dialytic therapies, and we will undoubtedly hear more about this system in the next few years.