26.04.2024

Photo by Tonny Foghmar,

A European medical society to place a school specialised in fatty liver disease at Aarhus University Hospital due to the Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology´s strong research and interdisciplinary approach to the disease.

Fatty liver disease occurs when fat accumulates inside the cells of the liver and can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and cancer. It is the most widespread liver disease in the world. Fatty liver disease can occur as a result of, among other things, overweight or type 2 diabetes, and apart from being able to lead to cirrhosis, it is often linked to cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the disease requires a multidisciplinary approach.

Today and tomorrow, 25 young hepatologists from all over Europe are gathered at Aarhus University Hospital, learning how diagnostics, treatment and research in fatty liver disease is performed by experts from several departments at AUH.

- Fatty liver disease is very much a topical disease, and we have probably been selected partly because we have broad research into topics such as biomarkers, cognitive dysfunction, insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism and heart disease in connection with fatty liver disease, and partly because we have the opportunity to gather a holistic picture of fatty liver disease and give the course participants a comprehensive approach to the disease, says Henning Grønbæk, doctor at Aarhus University Hospital Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology and professor at Aarhus University.

Future European specialists in liver disease attend the 'EASL Schools of Hepatology' at AUH, which has been established because AUH has applied to EASL (European Association for the Study of the Liver) to offer the course on fatty liver disease as one of EASL's two annual courses on clinical subjects.

In addition, there is an annual basic research course under EASL auspices. The course participants have been selected from among 50 applicants on the basis of their CVs and motivated applications.

- I need deep knowledge of the physiology and treatment of fatty liver disease, and therefore it is good for me to come and be taught at one of Europe's leading centres, says Katrina Pakarska from the Leeds Liver Unit at St James University Hospital in Leeds, England.

In addition to the Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology's involvement, the Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, the Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus and the Department of Cardiology are also involved in the course teaching.

- We hope to be able to give the course participants an interdisciplinary understanding of fatty liver disease, and that they will gain a network with other future specialists by being on this course. When we teach, we also become more aware of the need for an interdisciplinary practice, and for collaboration with patients, says Henning Grønbæk.

Photo by Tonny Foghmar,