The Korean Journal of Medicine

The Korean Association of Internal Medicine (대한내과학회)
권호 표지

The diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

비알코올성 지방간질환의 진단

  • Lee, Jin-Woo (Department of Internal Medicine, Inha University School of Medicine)
  • 이진우 (인하대학교 의학전문대학원 내과학교실)
  • Published : 2010.11.01
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Abstract

It is important to have a safe and effective diagnostic tool for liver fibrosis. Currently, liver biopsy is the technique of choice for determining hepatic fat deposition and the stage of fibrosis. However, it is an invasive procedure and its use is limited. It may also be subject to sampling error. Because of need for less invasive techniques, new diagnostic modalities are emerging to replace biopsy. In the present review, available new techniques are introduced and the advantages and disadvantages of each one are discussed. Although none of these non-invasive techniques is able to differentiate between steatosis and steatohepatitis and to reveal all features visible using histology, the proposed diagnostic modalities offer a wide range of additional information instead of liver biopsy.

Keywords

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