Hepatology
The Hepatology department offers full diagnostic, clinical, imaging, laboratory and therapeutic coverage, especially for patients with chronic liver diseases, such as:
- Chronic hepatitis
- Liver fibrosis
- Liver failure
- Liver cancer
We approach each patient interdisciplinary and in a space without unnecessary movements or delays.
The Hepatology Department is in constant collaboration with other departments that provide it with direct support with the aim of treating the patient correctly. The Hospital is supported by the Gastroenterology, Surgery and Radiology departments, as well as by other necessary structures of the Hospital, whenever there is a need. Using modern knowledge and techniques, and with state-of-the-art equipment, we treat each patient with consistency and responsibility.
Diseases of the liver, bile ducts and pancreas are a field of medicine, which in recent years has shown excellent progress, both at the diagnostic and therapeutic levels. The Hepatology Department operates in accordance with international academic and scientific standards and covers the whole range of acute and chronic diseases of the liver and biliary tract.
Diseases treated in the Hepatology Clinic
In particular, the Clinic’s Hepatology Department deals with the prevention, diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of:
- Chronic viral hepatitis B and C.
- Autoimmune diseases of the liver, such as autoimmune hepatitis, sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis, as well as overlap syndromes.
- Metabolic liver diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), drug-induced hepatitis, neoplastic diseases, vascular diseases of the liver, as well as alcoholic liver disease.
Examinations carried out at the Hepatology Department
- Preventive examinations (check-up)
- Diagnostic tests (serological, biological, virological, molecular, imaging, histological)
- Follow-up examinations, such as in therapeutic interventions in antiviral treatment.
In collaboration with other medical specialties, such as interventional radiologists and specialized surgeons in diseases of the liver, biliary tract and pancreas, the following are treated:
- Primary and secondary tumors of the liver
- Liver cirrhosis
- Gallbladder neoplasms and cholangiocarcinomas
- Cholelithiasis
- Bile duct lithiasis
- Intrahepatic lithiasis
- Benign and malignant tumors of the pancreas.
Latest developments in the field of Hepatology
The spearhead of recent developments in Hepatology are the innovative pharmacological treatments of viral hepatitis, specifically hepatitis C, where it is possible to eradicate the virus in 96% of cases with just two months of pharmacological treatment, without any particular side effects.
Also, chronic hepatitis B, which is quite common in Greece, is treated with great efficiency nowadays, since with correct staging of the disease, both pharmacological treatment and proper follow-up of patients are safe, to avoid complications and unwanted disease progression.
However, apart from therapeutic developments, hepatological diagnostics is making remarkable progress. Through non-invasive diagnosis of liver fibrosis, either imaging by elastography or serology, liver biopsy is only necessary in some cases, with overall great clinical benefit to the patient.
In addition, both the diagnosis and the therapeutic management of cirrhosis of the liver in collaboration with interventional radiology have made enormous progress and have led to a clear improvement in the life expectancy and quality of life of patients.
The interdisciplinary staffing of St Luke’s includes specialized doctors
- Hepatology
- Hepatosurgery
- Oncology
- Interventional Radiology.