Abstract
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an overarching term that refers to abnormal deposition of lipids in the liver and is used to describe the spectrum of disease ranging from hepatic steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis to cirrhosis. NAFLD is the most common cause of chronic liver disease and the second most common cause of cirrhosis. Although the pathophysiology is not completely understood, there is a strong link between NAFLD and metabolic syndrome. This review focuses on the workup of NAFLD in the primary care setting, from differential diagnoses to assessing fibrosis via predictive models that use commonly used laboratory values, biomarkers, and imaging. The purpose of this review article is to provide a set of screening and diagnostic tools for all primary care physicians in order to better manage patients with NAFLD.
Highlights
Chronic liver disease (CLD) is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States (US) [1]
nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an overarching term that refers to abnormal deposition of lipids in the liver and is used to describe the spectrum of disease ranging from hepatic steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) to cirrhosis [11]
The rise of NAFLD corresponding with the increasing prevalence of obesity, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension in the United States poses a vital opportunity for primary care providers (PCPs) to intervene in the management and assessment of NAFLD
Summary
Chronic liver disease (CLD) is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States (US) [1]. The most common cause of CLD not just in the US, but worldwide is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) [2,3,4]. NAFLD is currently the second most common etiology of cirrhosis in patients undergoing liver transplantation [5] and is projected to become the leading cause of liver transplant by 2020 [6,7]. Several of the above risk factors for NAFLD are chronic conditions managed by primary care providers (PCPs) [9]. There is an urgent need to educate PCPs on the epidemiology and work up of this very common disease in order to provide more effective care for patients with NAFLD. This review article provides an overview of NAFLD and the recommended workup in the primary care setting
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