Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

The enormous health and economic burden of gastrointestinal disease worldwide warrants a sharp focus on the etiology, epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and development of new therapies. By the end of the last century we had seen enormous advances, both in technologies to visualize disease and in curative therapies in areas such as gastric ulcer, with the advent first of the H2-antagonists and then the proton pump inhibitors - clear examples of how advances in medicine can massively benefit the patient. Nevertheless, specialists face ongoing challenges from a wide array of diseases of diverse etiology. In the related field of hepatology, liver disease and cirrhosis are the seventh leading cause of death among adults between 25–64 years of age in the USA alone. Specifically, Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than the AIDS virus and currently 5% of the population, worldwide, is infected. As the scientific and clinical communities address these challenges with new technologies, new therapeutic and diagnostic modalities and new understanding of disease at the molecular level, the scientific literature is proliferating explosively. Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology (ISSN 1747-4124) provides comprehensive coverage of state-of-the-art research and clinical advancements in the field as they occur. The journal focuses on the latest advances in our pathological, biochemical and physiological understanding of the diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract and liver, in addition to up-to-the-minute developments in strategies for prevention, diagnosis and intervention. Article coverage includes the following key areas: • Latest advances in pathological, biochemical and physiological understanding of the diseases of the digestive system and its associated organs • Developments in investigative strategies; such as radiology, endoscopy, cholangiopancreatography, colonoscopy and liver biopsy • Advances in molecular diagnosis and biomarker research • Recent developments in pharmacological approaches and emerging therapeutics • Drug safety • Disease-specific reviews, including coverage of digestive cancers, hepatitis infections, liver cirrhosis, inflammatory bowel disease, functional gastrointestinal disorder, and biliary and gall bladder disease • Optimal management of pediatric digestive diseases, with regard to diagnosis and issues, such as absorption, nutrition and growth • Psychosocial aspects • Pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research, supplemented by cost–benefit analysis The Expert Review format is unique in that it fosters a forward-thinking approach. Each review provides a complete overview of current understanding in a key area, which is augmented by the following key sections: Expert Opinion - a personal view of the data presented in the article, a discussion on the developments that are likely to be important in the future, and the avenues of research likely to become exciting as further studies yield more detailed results Article Highlights – an executive summary of the author’s most critical points All reviews are subject to peer review, with a minimum of three independent evaluations. Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology provides a forum for systematic, authoritative analysis and debate for all professionals within this specialty.