Abstract
The early history of liver diseases begins in antiquity and continuous at the start of the 21th century. The ancient Greeks regarded the liver as the side of blood formation and the centre of emotions.
The physiologic system of Galen was accepted until the 17th century. With the Renaissance and the revival of science, anatomy became the most important foundation of medicine.
In early 17th century were liver diseases related to alcohol. Saunders 1797 published the first hepatology text in English.
In knoledge of detailed structure of the liver became with new histologic techniques. During 19th century was old concept of humoral pathology replaced with cellular pathology.
The 20th century has seen an explosion in our knoledge as far as aetiology, pathogenetic and therapeutic mechanisms are concerned. As in all fields of science, most of what we know today has been discovered in the last few decades.