Which Clinical and Sonographic Parameters May Be Useful to Discriminate NASH from Steatosis?

Abstract

Background The natural history of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) includes the passage through steatosis. Goal To retrospectively evaluate the usefulness of sonographic parameters compared to histological diagnosis when differentiating steatosis from NASH. Study This retrospective study reviewed records of patients with steatosis from databases of our Departments, selecting only those who had been diagnosed by sonography and liver biopsy [64 males (63.82%); 30 females (36.18%)]. Results Attenuation of the echo amplitude (PPPP<0.01). Conclusions It is very difficult to build a predictive system to distinguish NASH from steatosis based on sonographic scores. However, it is already possible to differentiate NASH from steatosis by combining 3 simple sonographic parameters: attenuation of the echo amplitude, enlarged splenic diameter, and presence of focal fat sparing.