Diagnosis and Monitoring of Metabolic Dysfunction Associated with Fatty Liver Disease in Primary Care Patients with Risk Factors—EsteatoGal Study

TL;DR

This study found that 67.7% of patients with metabolic risk factors had fatty liver disease, and FibroScan® was more reliable than other tests for detecting liver fibrosis in primary care.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the high prevalence of MAFLD in primary care and validates FibroScan® as a reliable tool for fibrosis detection.

Findings

67.7% of patients with metabolic risk factors had MAFLD based on FibroScan® measurements.

FibroScan® showed strong correlation (0.942) with fibrosis diagnoses in gastroenterology departments.

Conventional ultrasound and biochemical markers had low and non-significant correlations with MAFLD diagnosis.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to calculate the epidemiological impact of metabolic dysfunction associated with fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and hepatic fibrosis in primary care (PC). Secondarily, we assessed the correlation between serological markers (FIB-4, ELF test), abdominal ultrasound, and transient elastography in the early detection of MAFLD. Methods: An observational prospective study was designed to determine the prevalence of MAFLD and to assess the correlation between complementary tests. Patients were recruited from five health centres. Eligible participants were adults aged between 18 and 70 years with at least one metabolic risk factor, including being overweight (BMI 25–29.9 kg/m2) or obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2), or diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), dyslipidemia, or metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of MAFLD was calculated. Correlations between diagnostic tests were evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: A total of 98 patients was included. Using CAP (controlled attenuation parameter) measurements, the prevalence of MAFLD was found to be 67.7%, and the prevalence of hepatic fibrosis was 6.5%. The correlation between conventional ultrasound and CAP from FibroScan® for the diagnosis of MAFLD was low and not statistically significant (0.160 [95% CI: −0.100; 0.400], p = 0.226). In contrast, the diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis using FibroScan® in PC showed a high correlation with diagnoses performed in gastroenterology department (0.942 [95% CI: 0.844; 0.979], p < 0.001). The correlation with biochemical markers was low and not statistically significant for both FIB-4 (0.125 [95% CI: −0.129; 0.363], p = 0.334) and the ELF test (0.159 [95% CI: −0.111; 0.407], p = 0.246). Conclusions: Two out of three patients with metabolic risk factors were diagnosed with MAFLD, while hepatic fibrosis diagnoses were uncommon. These results reinforce the validity of using FibroScan® in PC.