Research Progress of Quantitative Ultrasound Assessment of Liver Steatosis in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / 中国医学科学院学报

ABSTRACT

The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)keeps on rise.Without intervention,it may develop to steatohepatitis,cirrhosis,and even hepatocellular carcinoma.Liver biopsy,the gold standard for evaluating the steatosis severity of NAFLD,is invasive and unsuitable for large-scale screening.In recent years,magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)-related examinations have been used as a gold standard only second to liver biopsy,which still have disadvantages in large-scale application.Ultrasound has the advantages of simple operation,low cost,and safety,and may become an important method for accessing NALFD.This review summarizes the current studies about the diagnosis of liver steatosis by quantitative ultrasound assessment,including controlled attenuation parameters,attenuation imaging,ultrasonic liver/kidney intensity ratio and liver attenuation rate,and integrated backscatter.