Noninvasive Methods in the Diagnosis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) being increasingly diagnosed worldwide is considered as the most common liver disease in Western countries. The incidence is growing rapidly due to the continuing epidemic of the obesity and diabetes mellitus type 2. There is the extremely topical question of the affordable, effective and early diagnosis of NAFLD. Over the past few years, significant progress has been made in the understanding of its risk factors, pathogenesis, clinical course, methods of diagnosis and treatment of NAFLD. The article gives an overview of modern and promising methods for diagnosing NAFLD, useful for physicians of various specialties who have to deal with NAFLD patients. Key problems of diagnostics are formulated and directions for further research are determined. There is discussed the role of biomarkers as promising noninvasive diagnostic methods, that provides to assess the severity of necrotic inflammatory processes and liver fibrosis in NAFLD patients.