Developmental and Inherited Liver Disease

A section on the approach to diagnostic histological interpretation is the overture to this chapter on inherited and developmental disorders. This initial section is split chronologically into the early neonatal and infantile period and later childhood and adulthood, with the intention of reflecting clinical practice as closely and succinctly as possible. Disorders of the biliary tree, bile formation and secretion and hepatocyte metabolism are the core of this chapter, a merger of Chapters 3 and 4 of previous editions. Considerations on the pathogenetic and/or clinical overlap among developmental, genetic and metabolic disorders were the rationale behind this change. The complexity of hepatocyte metabolism is reflected into the myriad of related pathological conditions. Two short new paragraphs on disorders of manganese metabolism and DNA repair and nuclear envelope have been added. Recent technological advances, particularly in genomics in the last 5 years, have resulted in a plethora of new entities and changes in terminology, challenging the authors to balance detail and application to clinical practice. Tables and figures from the previous edition have been largely kept due to their quality and contemporary relevance, and updated where necessary. Liver involvement in immunodeficiency and miscellaneous disorders precede the final section on anatomical anomalies. Vascular anomalies are now included in the chapters on vascular disorders.