Information used to select topics included: (a) review of the past 10 years of symposium topics/themes; (b) discussion of current “hot topics” in hepatopathology; and (c) discussion of what overarching theme would best suit the immediate goals of having a topical symposium of practical interest to attendees at the USCAP meeting. As with previous years there was a strong endorsement for practical information, and involvement of a “clinician” in the symposium (including especially “correlating what we do with what they do”). The 2006 Symposium is especially focused on providing practical information which links the pathologist to the practicing clinician. This symposium will examine the value of liver biopsy interpretation in providing not just diagnostic information, but also prognostic information for the management of patients with liver disease. The attendee will obtain historical and clinicl perspectives on biopsy “prognostication” , and will learn about the existing evidence in support of histological, serological, and molecular prognostication.
