Non-invasive diagnosis of liver fibrosis associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

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OBJECTIVE

To show the role of non-invasive tests in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

KEY POINTS

Liver fibrosis is a stage of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease progression; hence, non-invasive tests are essential for identifying patients with a high risk of its development. At the first stage of screening, highly specific and/or a high negative predictive value of serum biomarkers (for example, the FIB-4 scale, NFS, etc.) should ve used to exclude patients with a low risk of liver fibrosis. Patients with an uncertain or high risk of liver fibrosis should undergo a second stage of screening using imaging techniques (for example, transient elastography, magnetic resonance elastography), or the need for a liver biopsy should be considered. Further observation will depend on the severity of the pathological process.

CONCLUSIONS

The early introduction and widespread use of effective non-invasive tests of liver fibrosis allow stratifying patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis into risk groups, increasing the effectiveness of therapy, reducing the likelihood of complications, and improving prognosis.

Keywords:

nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

liver fibrosis

diagnosis

serum biomarkers

imaging techniques

Authors:

Garbuzenko D.V.

South Ural State Medical University

Scopus AuthorID: 7801379382
ORCID: 0000-0001-9809-8015

Received:

25.05.2021

Accepted:

07.11.2021

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