- Email: [email protected]
Metabolic Liver Diseases
Clin Liver Dis 8 (2004) xi – xii
Preface
Metabolic Liver Diseases
Bruce R. Bacon, MD Guest Editor
I was delighted to be asked to be the Guest Editor for this issue of the Clinics in Liver Disease. This experience has provided me an opportunity to put together a series of review articles on several areas in liver disease with which we are readily familiar but which sometimes do not fit into other categories. I have assembled an outstanding group of authors who have done a superb job of distilling their material into an easily read, authoritative review. There is much new information in the area of hereditary hemochromatosis related to diagnosis and screening. Management remains fairly straightforward, but the issue of population screening is still not fully resolved. Dr. Paul Adams has done a wonderful job of sorting this out for us. Since the discovery of HFE in 1996, we have learned much more about the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in hereditary hemochromatosis. These new findings have been summarized and updated by our group at Saint Louis University. Interactions between iron, HFE, and hepatitis C have been debated over the last several years; many papers state that there is a relationship, while others maintain there is not. Dr. Wolfgang Stremmel and colleagues have put together a nice review to keep us current in this important topic. Dr. Michael Schlisky, an expert in Wilson disease, has summarized all aspects of this relatively rare disorder. Similarly, Dr. Bonkovsky and colleagues have prepared a detailed update on the hepatic porphyrias. From the pediatrician’s standpoint, I have asked Dr. David Perlmutter to discuss alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, and he has done a superb job. Fatty liver 1089-3261/04/$ – see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cld.2004.07.004
xii
B.R. Bacon / Clin Liver Dis 8 (2004) xi–xii
disease continues to be a hot topic in hepatology in the first decade of the 21st century. The previous issue of the Clinics in Liver Disease was devoted to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, but it is also necessary to include such a review in an issue devoted to metabolic liver diseases. Accordingly, I have asked Drs. Brent Tetri and Stephen Harrison to summarize nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. With the recognition that fatty liver disease is common and with the knowledge that hepatitis C is common, it is not surprising that there are interactions between these two problems. Dr. John McHutchison and colleagues at the Duke Clinical Research Institute have put together a nice review on this topic. A topic that is less commonly seen due to improvements in the field is that of liver disease related to parenteral and enteral nutrition. This has been nicely summarized by Dr. George and colleagues. Finally, the topic of amyloidosis occasionally comes up, and a wonderful review has been prepared by Drs. Elizabeth Brunt and Dina Tiniakos. The work in this issue will be up-to-date for quite some time, because whenever possible the authors have included the latest review of the literature. I hope that you enjoy this issue of the Clinics in Liver Disease and that you will provide feedback if necessary. Bruce R. Bacon, MD Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Saint Louis University School of Medicine 3635 Vista Avenue at Grand Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63110-0250, USA E-mail address: [email protected]
Preface
Metabolic Liver Diseases
Bruce R. Bacon, MD Guest Editor
I was delighted to be asked to be the Guest Editor for this issue of the Clinics in Liver Disease. This experience has provided me an opportunity to put together a series of review articles on several areas in liver disease with which we are readily familiar but which sometimes do not fit into other categories. I have assembled an outstanding group of authors who have done a superb job of distilling their material into an easily read, authoritative review. There is much new information in the area of hereditary hemochromatosis related to diagnosis and screening. Management remains fairly straightforward, but the issue of population screening is still not fully resolved. Dr. Paul Adams has done a wonderful job of sorting this out for us. Since the discovery of HFE in 1996, we have learned much more about the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in hereditary hemochromatosis. These new findings have been summarized and updated by our group at Saint Louis University. Interactions between iron, HFE, and hepatitis C have been debated over the last several years; many papers state that there is a relationship, while others maintain there is not. Dr. Wolfgang Stremmel and colleagues have put together a nice review to keep us current in this important topic. Dr. Michael Schlisky, an expert in Wilson disease, has summarized all aspects of this relatively rare disorder. Similarly, Dr. Bonkovsky and colleagues have prepared a detailed update on the hepatic porphyrias. From the pediatrician’s standpoint, I have asked Dr. David Perlmutter to discuss alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, and he has done a superb job. Fatty liver 1089-3261/04/$ – see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cld.2004.07.004
xii
B.R. Bacon / Clin Liver Dis 8 (2004) xi–xii
disease continues to be a hot topic in hepatology in the first decade of the 21st century. The previous issue of the Clinics in Liver Disease was devoted to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, but it is also necessary to include such a review in an issue devoted to metabolic liver diseases. Accordingly, I have asked Drs. Brent Tetri and Stephen Harrison to summarize nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. With the recognition that fatty liver disease is common and with the knowledge that hepatitis C is common, it is not surprising that there are interactions between these two problems. Dr. John McHutchison and colleagues at the Duke Clinical Research Institute have put together a nice review on this topic. A topic that is less commonly seen due to improvements in the field is that of liver disease related to parenteral and enteral nutrition. This has been nicely summarized by Dr. George and colleagues. Finally, the topic of amyloidosis occasionally comes up, and a wonderful review has been prepared by Drs. Elizabeth Brunt and Dina Tiniakos. The work in this issue will be up-to-date for quite some time, because whenever possible the authors have included the latest review of the literature. I hope that you enjoy this issue of the Clinics in Liver Disease and that you will provide feedback if necessary. Bruce R. Bacon, MD Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Saint Louis University School of Medicine 3635 Vista Avenue at Grand Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63110-0250, USA E-mail address: [email protected]