[Non-invasive techniques in diagnosis of steatosis and fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease].

UNLABELLED: Diagnosis and treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most actual problems of modern hepatology. Ultrasound elastometry is alternative method to determine the density of the liver tissue. The efficiency of the method was confirmed by a large amount of data in patients with viral hepatitis. However, the diagnostic value of elastometry was not studied enough in patients with NAFLD. THE AIM OF THE RESEARCH: to study the possibility of non-invasive diagnostic methods of examination in a complex assessment of the liver in patients with NAFLD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 24 patients with signs of NAFLD and a long persistent elevation of liver enzymes. All patients underwent a needle biopsy of the liver. We conducted a comparative analysis of the results of the morphological study of the liver tissue with ultrasound elastometry, computed tomography of the liver, biochemical blood tests.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Among biochemical liver enzymes ALT was a marker of NAFLD which characterized the transformation of steatosis to steatohepatitis. The combined ALT and GGT increase reflected the high activity of inflammation in the liver tissue. Elastometry results were comparable to the histological features in all liver fibrosis stages, but the maximum diagnostic accuracy was observed at the late stages. The area under the ROC-curves showed the highest precision in the F2-F3 stages, the lowest value - in the F1 stage. Imprecision of the method in the early stages of fibrosis may be due to the hepatic steatosis in NAFLD and high biochemical activity with cholestasis signs. Patients with early-stage liver fibrosis diagnosed with elastometry need additional examination using other methods of noninvasive diagnostic tools.