Imaging of diffuse liver diseases

Diffuse liver diseases are fairly common clinical entities in our daily practice. Despite their widespreadness and common occurence, it is a quietly ignored part in radiology literature, not much is known about their radiological characteristics and, unfortunately, it could not attain the importance that it deserves. Under the general headline of “Imaging in Diffuse Liver Diseases”, cirrhosis, Budd-Chiari's syndrome and fatty liver have recieved more attention from the radiologic society when compared to other related rare diffuse parenchymal diseases [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. The recognition and detailed description, as well as through understanding the underlying pathophysiology, of the CT-MR and US findings of these diseases will shed more light on these entities and probably decrease the need for histopathological examinations.

Probably due to the restricted number of patients in rare diffuse liver diseases, such as Wilson's disease, hemochromatosis, cystic fibrosis and congenital hepatic fibrosis, it is hard to say that there are clarifying and sufficient studies on the radiological findings of these disorders. The published articles on these disorders are scarce and conducted on patient groups with restricted numbers [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13]. Considering these limitations, it may be hard to draw relevant conclusions that is applicable to correct diagnosis in daily practice of abdominal radiology.

Diffuse liver diseases are frequently the problems of pediatric age group and ultrasonography is widely used in these patients for the diagnosis. Radiological findings in other imaging modalities are not well-known and it is hard to decide the most convenient method in these patients. It may be a confusing problem for both the clinicians and the radiologists and may cause inadvertent use of time and restricted health budgets.

The major aim of these reviews is to explain and admit the most common and useful imaging signs of the most common seven diseases grouped under the general headline of “Diffuse Liver Diseases” and to conclude where we stand in their imaging diagnosis. Although, we came a long way in the imaging diagnosis of these disorders and made remarkable progress, what we found seems to be only the tip of the iceberg and there remains a lot to do.

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Eight article in this edition is dedicated to “Multidetector CT and MRI findings in periportal space pathologies”. Periportal thickening is a common imaging finding in several diffuse liver diseases and its definition and classification may be an important contributor to the correct diagnosis of these diseases.

I want to express my cordial greetings to all the contributors, namely, Dr. Brancatelli, Dr. Erden, Dr. Alustiza and all my colleagues in the abdominal radiology section of our institute. Without their contribution, unlimited efforts and inspiration it would be impossible to create this publication.

I hope these articles will make a contribution to the medical literature as well as to the practising radiologists, and provoke better studies on this subject.