Alcohol consumption is the most prevalent aetiology for liver cirrhosis in Europe and the third leading risk factor for overall mortality.1,2 In fact, alcoholic liver cirrhosis accounts for almost half a million deaths a year worldwide, corresponding to 50% of all cases of cirrhosis, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).3 Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is multifaceted, with several cofactors influencing its progression. Patients abusing alcohol can simultaneously have viral hepatitis B or C, or a genetic disease, such as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency or haemochromatosis.

Abdominal CT (computed tomography) is among the most common imaging tests performed for the investigation of acute abdominal pathology. There are many pitfalls that clinicians and radiologists should be aware of when requesting these studies and interpreting the findings. This article covers ten mistakes frequently made with abdominal CT, focusing on gastrointestinal tract and hepatobiliary pathology. These mistakes and their discussions are based on the available literature where possible and thereafter on our clinical experience.

It is a difficult task and a great responsibility to evaluate and manage patients with acute - and potentially life-threatening - clinical presentations. It is even more complex to achieve high standards of care for cases on call. Indeed, on-call gastroenterologists, hepatologists and endoscopists are faced with a wide and protean range of gastrointestinal, liver and pancreatic emergencies.  The decision-making process for cases on call is mainly based on information received over the phone, on medical knowledge and clinical experience, and on the resources available. As the degree of confidence in any information given on call may vary, it is of tremendous importance to note, and to document, with precise timing, what has been communicated by, proposed to, and eventually decided with, multiple caregivers (i.e. nurses, emergency physicians, intensive care physicians, surgeons, radiologists etc.)

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a growing cause of chronic liver disease worldwide that can manifest as nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Compared with NAFL, NASH poses a substantially higher risk of progression to advanced liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Given the lack of directed pharmacological therapies and the complex, multifactorial disease aetiology and pathology, NAFLD is expected to become the leading cause of end-stage liver disease in the coming decades.