DIAGNOSTIC ROLE OF LIVER FAT SCORE AND CAROTID INTIMA-MEDIA THICKNESS IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING PROVED NON ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the rise in the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity may explain the emergence of Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as the leading cause of liver disease in worldwide. NAFLD comprises a disease spectrum ranging from simple steatosis to Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), with varying degrees of inflammation and fibrosis progressing to end-stage liver disease with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. High prevalence of NAFLD in general population makes using routine liver biopsy in its diagnosis unreasonable, due to its invasiveness and complications, while MRI imaging techniques are non-invasive it is time-consuming, expensive and often unavailable in daily routine, therefore, the urgent need to validate a simple, non-invasive method that accurately identify NAFLD, discriminate those with highest risk of d