Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Review

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A concise and useful review of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH): AM Diehl, C Day. NEJM 2017; 377: 2063-72

A couple points:

  • About 25% of adults have fatty livers in the absence of excessive alcohol consumption
  • NASH is strongly associated with obesity/overweight which occur in  >80% of patients
  • NASH comorbidities in adults: 72% with dyslipidemia, 44% with type 2 diabetes mellitus
  • In a typical patient with NASH, liver fibrosis progresses “at a rate of approximately one stage per decade, suggesting that F2 fibrosis will progress to cirrhosis within 20 years.” However, there is considerable variability.
  • It is expected that NASH will be the leading reason for liver transplantation by 2020.
  • Cirrhosis related to NASH increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma with this occuring in 1-2% per year of patients with cirrhosis.
  • NASH is estimated to cost >$100 billion currently in annual direct medical costs
  • Staging of NASH and differentiation from isoloated steatosis identifies those at high risk for sequelae.
  • In Table 2, the authors list more than 10 pharmacologic agents in phase 2/3 studies

Current lifestyle treatment recommendations (for adults):

  • Lose 7% of body weight if overweight or obese
  • Limit consumption of fructose-enriched beverages
  • Limit consumption of alcohol (no more than 1 drink/day for women and 2 drinks/day for men)
  • Drink two or more cups of caffeinated coffee daily

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Panels A & B show typical histologic findings: ballooned hepatocytes (arrows), inflammatory infiltrates (arrowheads), and fibrosis Panel C shows the relative distribution of NASH, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma in U.S. Adults.