Diagnosis and Evaluation of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of elevated liver function tests results, after the commonly investigated causes have been excluded, and frequently coexists with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) because the conditions have common risk factors. As both T2DM and NAFLD are related to adverse outcomes of the other, diagnosis and valuation of fatty liver is an important part of the management of diabetes. Although noninvasive methods, such as biomarkers, panel markers, and imaging, may support a diagnostic evaluation of NAFLD patients, accurate histopathological findings cannot be achieved without a liver biopsy. As it is important to know whether steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis are present for the management of NAFLD, liver biopsy remains the gold standard for NAFLD diagnosis and evaluation. Therefore, new investigations of the pathogenesis of NAFLD are necessary to develop useful biomarkers that could provide a reliable noninvasive alternative to liver biopsy.

Comparison of lipid profile in different grades of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease diagnosed on ultrasound

“…Most of the western studies have reported the mean age of NAFLD between 41-45 years. In our cases NAFLD most commonly seen in the fourth and fifth decade, this is about a [5][6][7][8][9][10] years elder than what has been reported from other countries.…”

Glycosyltransferases and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

“…In general, accumulation of lipids up to 5% of the liver weight results in the diagnosis of fatty liver disease or hepatic steatosis. In addition, if hepatic steatosis occurs in patients who do not consume alcohol on a daily basis, it is referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) [1] . Usually, NAFLD is classified as "primary" and "secondary", depending on the underlying etiology.…”

“…Based on available information, various researchers have proposed different hypotheses over time. The major hypotheses are as follows: (1) In 1998, Day et al [27] first proposed the "two-hit"…”

Labordiagnostik der Leberfibrose und der nichtalkoholischen Fettleber-Krankheit

“…Zudem werden die Empfehlungen nach der Qualität ihrer Evidenz gewichtet: hoch (A), moderat (B) und gering (C). Nachfolgend sind nur die für die Diagnostik relevanten Empfehlungen zusammengefasst [16] [3,26,28]. Tabelle 5 stellt die bei NAFLD ausgewerteten Scores zusammen.…”