Summary:
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most
common liver disease observed in the clinical practice of
hepatology affecting approximately 20% of the general
population. It is increasingly apparent that non alcoholic
steatohepatits (NASH) and NAFLD are not Western disease.
There is evolution of Western-style life among the Asian
population and NASH has increasingly been diagnosed in
several regions in Asia. NASH is considered as a type of a
larger spectrum of NAFLD that is a consequence of insulin
resistance and other underlying factors with histological
findings ranging from fatty change alone to fat plus
inflammation, to fat plus ballooning degeneration, and to fat
plus alcoholic hepatitis-like lesions including Mallory body
and fibrosis, the latter two categories being considered as
NASH. Although liver biopsy is currently the gold standard
for diagnosis, there is a need for less invasive methods.
Imaging by ultrasound, computerized tomography and
magnetic resonance are all able to demonstrate fat.
Ultrasound, although probably not the most reliable imaging
method, has many advantages and, when positive, gives a