2019 innovations in hepato-gastroenterology and hepatic transplantation surgery

Dahlqvist, Géraldine [UCL] Delire, Bénédicte [UCL] Dewit, Olivier [UCL] Coubeau, Laurent [UCL] Horsmans, Yves [UCL] Lanthier, Nicolas [UCL] Moreels, Tom [UCL]

Overall, 30% and 3% of the Belgian population suffer from fatty liver and its severe form, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), respectively. To date, there is no pharmacological treatment in the NASH field. Nevertheless, encouraging results have been described with obeticholic acid in a Phase 3 study. As a consequence, obeticholic acid is considered a promising therapeutic strategy. In the area of chronic inflammatory bowel disease, tofacitinib (Xeljanz®) is reimbursed since September 2019 in case of first-line treatment failure in ulcerative colitis patients, providing new perspectives to patients affected by this disease. Poorly known 10 years ago, the hepatitis E virus has recently gained interest. In Europe and more particularly in Belgium, genotype 3 is responsible for the majority of cases. Hepatitis E virus infection should be checked for in each acute hepatitis case. The disease can be more severe in two sub-populations, namely patients suffering from chronic liver disease that can decompensate in this context and immunocompromised patients in whom the infection can become chronic. Great advances in the field of enteroscopy were also confirmed in 2019, due to the techniques enabling the biliopancreatic system to be accessed in patients with an altered anatomy of the upper digestive tract (gastric bypass,etc.) or through the use of motorized spiral enteroscopy. All of these techniques are employed at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc. Finally, the last part of this review will be devoted to liver transplantation and the UCL-ALDAPT clinical study, whose objective is to assess the validity of a 2-stage total hepatectomy surgical procedure associated with a leftliver transplantation, so as to minimize risks in adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation.