Non-invasive Methods to Evaluate Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Overview

Journal Front Physiol

Date 2023 Jan 2

PMID 36589424

Authors

Jincheng Wang

Tao Qin

Jinyu Sun

Shiwu Li

Lihua Cao

Xiaojie Lu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease that is strongly related to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, and it has become the most common liver disorder in developed countries. NAFLD embraces the full pathological process of three conditions: steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and finally, cirrhosis. As NAFLD progresses, symptoms will become increasingly severe as fibrosis develops. Therefore, evaluating the fibrosis stage is crucial for patients with NAFLD. A liver biopsy is currently considered the gold standard for staging fibrosis. However, due to the limitations of liver biopsy, non-invasive alternatives were extensively studied and validated in patients with NAFLD. The advantages of non-invasive methods include their high safety and convenience compared with other invasive approaches. This review introduces the non-invasive methods, summarizes their benefits and limitations, and assesses their diagnostic performance for NAFLD-induced fibrosis.

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