A multidisciplinary panel will discuss the diagnostic criteria of liver masses and review the management of benign and malignant masses during Monday morning’s AASLD symposium The Management of Liver Masses.

“With improvement in imaging technologies such as MRI and CT, liver lesions are often diagnosed early, and the evaluation of those lesions has become one of the most common reasons for consultation faced by gastroenterologists and hepatologists, as well as transplant and hepatobiliary surgeons,” said Chirag Desai, MD, associate professor of surgery and director of the Chronic Pancreatitis and Autologous Islet Cell Transplant Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

“Additionally, with increasing referral due to NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) and subsequent diagnosis of cancer in some of those patients, it’s more important than ever for gastroenterologists to understand the diagnostic criteria in order to make the correct diagnosis and determine the appropriate management of such masses,” he added.

Dr. Desai will chair the symposium with Jorge Marrero, MD, professor of internal medicine and medical director of the liver transplant program at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. The symposium’s panelists, which include a gastroenterologist, a radiologist and a surgeon, will discuss current treatment options for benign solid and cystic liver masses, as well as the surgical and nonsurgical treatment options for hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma.

“There have been significant advances in medical, interventional and surgical options for the treatment of various liver masses,” Dr. Desai said. “Through the use of modern imaging, we can not only distinguish between cystic and solid lesions, but to a greater extent ascertain the diagnosis and differentiate the benign from the malignant lesion without biopsy.”

Please refer to the DDW Mobile App or the Program & Exhibits section in the Monday issue for the time and location of this and other DDW^® events.