Abstract:

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide. It is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and is commonly regarded as the hepatic component of metabolic syndrome. It includes: simple fatty liver; and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which may progress to cirrhosis. Liver biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of NASH to differentiate simple bland steatosis but it is invasive and expensive. It is important to develop new methods to assess NAFLD, the presence or absence of NASH and the severity of any complicating fibrosis or cirrhosis. In this review we will demonstrate the use of Transient Elastography (TE) as a non invasive tool to differentiate between simple steatosis and the advanced disease with fibrosis.

Aim of the work:

To shed some light on the clinical utility of Fibroscan as a non invasive imaging technique for assessment and diagnosis of NAFLD and elucidate its possible limitations.