Cyrielle Caussy, MD, PhD, University Lyon and endocrinologist at Hospice Civils de Lyon and Lars Johansson, CSO at Antaros Medical, are discussing the current status of MRI based imaging biomarkers both for improved patient management and clinical research in a recent review article Magnetic resonance-based biomarkers in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, Endocrinol Diab Metab. 2020.
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD; previously called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD) is affecting 25-30% of the adult population worldwide. The progressive form, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH; previously called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH), comes with an increased risk of advanced fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver-related mortality. It is crucial to understand this progress and severity of the disease for both clinical management and clinical research. In addition, is also key to be able to assess changes over time, especially for research.
Today, MASH is defined by biopsy, which has its limitation as it is an expensive and invasive method with both risk to the patient and variability in the interpretation of the histology sample. The use of MRI biomarkers are increasing and are important non-invasive alternatives for both clinical research and clinical management of patients.
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