Reducing NAFLD-screening time: A comparative study of eight diagnostic methods offering an alternative to ultrasound scans.

2018

Background & Aims: The use of ultrasound scan (US) in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) screening overloads US waiting lists. We hypothesized and tested a hybrid two-step method, consisting of applying a formula, to exclude subjects at low risk, before US. Methods: The sample included 2970 males and females (937 with NAFLD) diagnosed by US. We selected eight formulas: Fatty Liver Index (FLI), Hepatic Steatosis Index (HIS), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), Abdominal Volume Index (AVI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist/height0.5 (WHT.5R) and Body Roundness Index (BRI), and calculated their performance in the two-step method evaluating percentage reduction of the…