Diagnostic Assessment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / 대한내과학회지

ABSTRACT

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease worldwide, and is characterized by fat accumulation at levels exceeding 5% in hepatocytes due to insulin resistance. The disease spectrum ranges from simple nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)/NASH-related fibrosis or cirrhosis defined by histological findings. Unlike simple NAFL, NASH/NASH-related fibrosis or cirrhosis increases the risk of liver-related morbidity or mortality. Therefore, accurate diagnosis of NASH/NASH-related fibrosis or cirrhosis is needed for management of patients with these diseases. Currently, liver biopsy is the only way to confirm the presence of NASH in an individual with features of NAFLD, but this has some limitations, including sample error, interpretation error, and the invasiveness of the procedure. Therefore, there have been a number of attempts to develop noninvasive methods for differential diagnosis of NASH/NASH-related fibrosis or cirrhosis easily and quickly. Here, we review the assessments for diagnosing NAFLD and the methods for differential diagnosis of NASH/NASH-related fibrosis or cirrhosis.