It is with great enthusiasm that I welcome you to the first issue of an exciting new journal: Expert Review of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The journal will appear bimonthly to begin with, and has been specifically crafted to assist clinicians in practice to keep up with emerging literature. In our field, the literature is now truly overwhelming, as are the number of journals. No one can read everything published in the field, even given nothing else to do. So how does one justify the introduction of yet another journal for the busy clinician? Well, it is clear that despite the number of publications out there, clinicians are still not served in a fully satisfactory way. Clinicians want to have the key advances flagged and be provided with clear, practical summaries that distill the management of difficult problems. Such problems are often simply not covered in standard textbooks or by currently available web-based programs. Many of the widely circulated peer-reviewed journals in general fail here, with content that is often seen as irrelevant for clinicians in practice. This journal aims to be different.
The material in Expert Review of Gastroenterology and Hepatology is no throw away; the content is all subject to rigorous peer review, and each article is written by an expert, or experts, in the field. The reviews will be published in a very timely fashion, with a 6–8-week window from submission to first draft of the paper, ensuring the content is very current. In addition to the excellent review articles, future content to be added will include Editorials, Interviews and Summaries of Meeting Reports, all aimed at helping busy physicians keep up to date.
You want material that is very easy to read and retain, even if you read it late at night in bed, as I do to relax. The journal focuses on this philosophy. You will be aided by summary points and high-quality graphics, as you can see from this issue. Look for the Expert Commentary at the end of each of the reviews. Note how the experts are asked to stick their neck out and provide a 5-year overview of the future; this is unique content for those planning for practice change. Physicians interested in education and research will also benefit from being able to read about advances in many related fields that may impact on them. I think you’ll like the novel approach.
The breadth of topics covered in the journal is illustrated by this first issue; there seems to something here for everyone. New imaging techniques in Barrett’s esophagus represents a rapidly evolving area that is changing clinical practice. The topic is ably covered by an internationally recognized authority, Prateek Sharma from the University of Kansas (MO, USA). Everyone interested in esophageal manometry or planning to buy new equipment will want to read Andre Smout’s review from the Utrecht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands, on high-resolution manometry. This seems to represent a real advance in this field, and Andre is a giant in the motility arena; his perspectives are worth the time perusing. Susie Kane, now at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (MN, USA), covers current and future therapy for inflammatory bowel disease very clearly. She nicely summarizes an area that is rapidly evolving, with new biological therapies that you will be using soon and that will change current management algorithms. But are the new biologicals for inflammatory bowel disease just too costly? Read the article on pharmacoeconomics by Russell Cohen (University of Chicago Medical Centre, IL, USA) to find out! For endoscopists, the article by Laurel Fisher (University of Michigan, MI, USA) on double-balloon enteroscopy will be welcome, as will Jack Di Palma’s (University of South Alabama, AL, USA) review of capsule endoscopy in clinical practice.
Liver disease is also very well represented, as it should be. There has been a growing trend for some leaders in hepatology to suggest that the fields of hepatology and gastroenterology must divorce, in part because of rapid changes in both specialty arenas. Indeed, there has been a proliferation of specialty hepatology-only journals. However, most community gastroenterologists look after patients with gastroenterological and hepatological disease, and continue to do this extremely well. For many, keeping up with advances in liver disease and luminal gastroenterology remains essential. This new journal should help you here. Al Czaja from the Mayo Clinic provides a terrific two-part review of autoimmune hepatitis, which, while rare, is an immently manageable form of chronic liver disease. Paul Pockros (Scripps Clinic, CA, USA) covers new drugs for hepatitis C, a clinical area we all need to keep up to date with. Other interesting articles address gene therapy (truly the future) for liver enzyme deficiencies, activation of natural killer cells to manage liver fibrosis (the reversal of which remains a holy grail) and alarming data on the epidemic of cirrhosis in Europe (which was news to me at least).
I write about testing and treatment of Heliobactor pylori, and discuss the controversy regarding potentially screening and treating patients for this infection to prevent ulcer disease and gastric cancer in the future; there is increasing support for screening and treatment in areas where the incidence of gastric cancer is particularly high, so it’s probably worth being up-to-date here. The pancreas isn’t forgotten either; Ralph Hruban (Johns Hopkins Medical Institution, MD, USA) covers the increasingly recognized familial pancreatic cancer syndromes where screening is now an important consideration for practicing gastroenterologists.
In my view, the jury is in. The addition of this new forward-looking journal is very welcome. I plan to look at each issue to help guide my practice and I hope you will feel the same way. Happy reading!