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The EASL SLD Summit aims at updating a global community of liver stakeholders on the most recent advances in SLD research, both pre-clinically and clinically, focusing on MASLD and tackling the issue of MetALD.

In this episode, Jörn Schattenberg, Louise Campbell and Roger Green review the recently concluded meeting with faculty members Sven Francque and Hannes Hagström in two seperate interviews.

This final conversation from our interview with Sven centers on the research that Sven and his colleagues presented at the SLD Summit.  Most of this research focuses on portal pressures in pre-cirrhotic patients, including those with fibrosis levels as low as F0 or F1. Sven notes that relatively few of these patients have elevations of 10mmHg or more in these earlier stage scenarios, but a significant number have elevations from 5-9 mmHG, which might affect health in more subtle ways. Roger asks about the impact of this work on how we treat patients today and into the future. Sven follows up by identifying several areas for future research. As the groups moves toward the end of the interview, Louise asks questions around using NITs, notably FibroScan, to check for pressures because in some of her work, VCTE in biopsied and non-biopsied livers demonstrated different results. Sven congratulates Louise on the question and indicates this might be a powerful area for future research. 

With that, listen to the full episode to gain a richer understanding than can be described in this summary. If you have questions or comments around the Summit or any other themes addressed in this episode, we kindly ask that you submit reviews wherever you download the discourse. Alternatively, you can write to us directly at [email protected].

From the official EASL SLD Summit website:

The EASL SLD Summit aims at updating a global community of liver stakeholders on the most recent advances in SLD research, both pre-clinically and clinically, focusing on MASLD and tackling the issue of MetALD. You will gain insights in the most key techniques employed in research, clinical trials and clinical practice, with an understanding of their potential as well as limitations. You will learn about the most recent advances in our understanding of the disease, including the role of sexual dimorphism, circadian clock or vascular mechanisms, and potential new targets as well as modalities of treatment. You will exchange on these topics with both young fellows and established experts in the field in a highly interactive format with a lot of room for discussion. You will get the latest update on where we stand with the efforts of having MASLD, and SLD in general, on the agenda as a public health problem and the roadmap and policies to tackle this problem, in which the people living with SLD, and many stakeholders have been increasingly joining forces. In light of the latter, the Summit will also provide a space to further discuss the nomenclature change and its potential impact on research clinical practice and awareness. A session will be dedicated to discussing in-depth the issue of people who combine alcohol use and metabolic risk factors, designated as MetALD in the latest nomenclature. You will also get the latest data on diagnosis and prognostication in MASH and on how to tackle MASLD as a multisystem disease, informing you not only on what you need to do, but also on the science and evidence behind it.