Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2024; 30(13): 1836-1850
Published online Apr 7, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i13.1836
Hepatolithiasis: Epidemiology, presentation, classification and management of a complex disease
Rodrigo V. Motta, Francesca Saffioti, Vasileios K Mavroeidis
Rodrigo V. Motta, Translational Gastroenterology and Liver Unit, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
Francesca Saffioti, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom
Francesca Saffioti, UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health and Sheila Sherlock Liver Unit, Royal Free Hospital and University College London, London NW3 2QG, United Kingdom
Vasileios K Mavroeidis, Department of HPB Surgery, Bristol Royal Infirmary, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol BS2 8HW, United Kingdom
Vasileios K Mavroeidis, Department of Transplant Surgery, North Bristol NHS Trust, Southmead Hospital, Bristol BS10 5NB, United Kingdom
Vasileios K Mavroeidis, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, North Bristol NHS Trust, Southmead Hospital, Bristol BS10 5NB, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Mavroeidis VK and Saffioti F contributed equally to this work; Mavroeidis VK and Saffioti F conceptualised and designed the study, created the artwork, supervised, and made critical revisions; Motta RV conducted the literature review, did the analysis, interpretation of data and drafted the original manuscript; all authors prepared the draft and approved the submitted version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Vasileios K Mavroeidis, MD, MSc, FRCS, FACS, FICS, FSSO, MFSTEd, MICR, Academic Research, Surgeon, Department of HPB Surgery, Bristol Royal Infirmary, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, Upper Maudlin St, Bristol BS2 8HW, United Kingdom. vasileios.mavroeidis@nhs.net
Received: January 31, 2024
Peer-review started: January 31, 2024
First decision: February 8, 2024
Revised: February 23, 2024
Accepted: March 13, 2024
Article in press: March 13, 2024
Published online: April 7, 2024
Processing time: 62 Days and 12.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Hepatolithiasis is a chronic disease, mostly prevalent in Asia, commonly characterised by recurrent episodes of cholangitis and relevant clinicopathological syndromes, while it constitutes a risk factor for development of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Its management in complex cases can be challenging and relies upon multidisciplinary input from hepatologists, endoscopists, interventional radiologists and hepatobiliary surgeons. This comprehensive review provides insight on various aspects of hepatolithiasis, with a main focus on the epidemiology, new evidence on pathophysiology, most important clinical aspects, different classification systems and contemporary management.