• Yan Li, Changyong Dai, Yuhua Ruan, Haiqing Yang, Huang Zeng, Rui Huang, Jialu Wang, Mingjia Dai, Jungui Hao, Liping Wang, Jie Li, Xuebing Yan, Zhonghua Lu, and Fang Ji.
• Graduate School of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221004, China.
• Postgrad Med J. 2024 Apr 22; 100 (1183): 319326319-326.

BackgroundThe evaluation of patients with fatty liver as defined by metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in the real world remains poorly researched. This study aimed to analyse the clinical and histological features of patients with MAFLD and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to characterize each metabolic subgroup of MAFLD.MethodsA total of 2563 patients with fatty liver confirmed by ultrasonography and/or magnetic resonance tomography and/or liver biopsy-proven from three hospitals in China were included in the study. Patients were divided into different groups according to diagnostic criteria for MAFLD and NAFLD, and MAFLD into different subgroups.ResultsThere were 2337 (91.2%) patients fitting the MAFLD criteria, and 2095 (81.7%) fitting the NAFLD criteria. Compared to patients with NAFLD, those with MAFLD were more likely to be male, had more metabolic traits, higher liver enzyme levels, and noninvasive fibrosis scores. Among the patients with liver biopsy, the extent of advanced fibrosis in cases with MAFLD was significantly higher than those with NAFLD, 31.8% versus 5.2% (P < .001); there was no significant difference in advanced fibrosis between obese cases and lean individuals in MAFLD (P > .05); MAFLD complicated with diabetes had significantly higher advanced fibrosis than those without diabetes (43.3% and 17.2%, respectively; P < .001).ConclusionsPatients with MAFLD have a higher degree of liver fibrosis than NAFLD patients. In addition, diabetic patients should be screened for fatty liver and liver fibrosis degree.© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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