Open AccessImportance of imaging and recent developments in diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Author(s) -
Mustafa Koplay,
Mesut Sivri,
Hasan Erdoğan,
Alaaddin Nayman
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
world journal of hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 55
ISSN - 1948-5182
DOI - 10.4254/wjh.v7.i5.769
Subject(s) - medicine , nonalcoholic fatty liver disease , cirrhosis , liver biopsy , gold standard (test) , magnetic resonance imaging , fatty liver , chronic liver disease , radiology , disease , steatosis , liver disease , gastroenterology , biopsy
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease and is a major public health problem worldwide. It is a spectrum that includes simple steatosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis and cirrhosis. Recently, NAFLD prevalence in children and adolescents has increased too. The increasing prevalence has resulted in NASH-related chronic liver disease. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment is quite important. Although liver biopsy is still the gold standard for diagnosis and staging of NAFLD, particularly for the diagnosis of NASH, imaging methods such as ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging with chemical shift imaging and especially magnetic resonance spectroscopy and elastography have been increasingly approved as noninvasive alternative methods. The aim of this review is to analyze the diagnostic accuracy and limitations of the imaging methods and recent developments in the diagnosis of NAFLD.