What is metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)?
Steatotic (fatty) liver disease (SLD) occurs when your body begins storing fat in your liver. Some fat in your liver is normal, but when more than 10% of your liver’s weight is fat, it may begin to suffer. Excessive alcohol use is one common reason for SLD. But many people develop it without using alcohol. This is called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
MASLD affects up to 25% of people worldwide. Most people won’t have symptoms, and some may never know they have the condition. But 2% to 5% of people will experience complications from the fat in their livers. When fat leads to inflammation and cell damage in your liver, it’s called steatohepatitis. The non-alcohol related version is called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
Symptoms and Causes
People typically don’t experience symptoms until MASLD progresses to MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis). With MASH, you may begin to have symptoms of inflammation, such as pain and swelling in your upper right abdomen, where your liver is. But you may not notice symptoms until MASH has progressed to more severe liver damage. MASLD merely lays the groundwork.
How is metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) diagnosed?
Your healthcare provider may suspect MASLD during a routine checkup if your blood panel shows high levels of certain liver enzymes or your liver appears enlarged on an imaging test. They may recommend further blood tests to rule out other causes of elevated liver enzymes. They may also want to try a more sensitive imaging test, such as a CT scan (computed tomography scan) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), to get a better look at your liver.
Another way of diagnosing MASLD is to take a liver biopsy. That means collecting a sample of your liver tissue to test in the lab. Your healthcare provider collects the sample by inserting a needle into your liver. By analyzing the tissue, they can tell how much fat it has and whether there’s any evidence of steatohepatitis (MASH) or permanent scarring (cirrhosis).
