Addressing the essentials of the recent guidelines for managing patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease

Dimitrios S Karagiannakis; Katerina Stefanaki; Stavroula A Paschou; Margarita Papatheodoridi; Sotirios Tsiodras; Nikolaos Papanas

doi:10.1007/s42000-024-00625-z

Addressing the essentials of the recent guidelines for managing patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease

Hormones (Athens). 2024 Dec 19. doi: 10.1007/s42000-024-00625-z. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Dimitrios S Karagiannakis¹, Katerina Stefanaki², Stavroula A Paschou², Margarita Papatheodoridi³, Sotirios Tsiodras⁴, Nikolaos Papanas⁵

Affiliations

¹ Academic Department of Gastroenterology, Laiko General Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. [email protected].
² Endocrine Unit and Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Alexandra Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
³ Academic Department of Gastroenterology, Laiko General Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
⁴ 4th Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
⁵ Diabetes Centre-Diabetic Foot Clinic, Second Department of Internal Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece.

PMID: 39695010
DOI: 10.1007/s42000-024-00625-z

Abstract

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is the leading cause of end-stage liver disease and liver transplantation in the Western world, with an approximate prevalence of 30% worldwide which is continuously rising. It is characterized by intrahepatic fat deposition along with at least one cardiometabolic risk factor, such as diabetes mellitus, obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypertension. MASLD consists of a spectrum of liver diseases ranging from simple liver steatosis to steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Recently, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) released the latest guidelines regarding the management of patients with MASLD. This article highlights the critical points of these guidelines and emphasizes problematic issues that need further evaluation.

Keywords: Cardiometabolic risk; Cirrhosis; Guidelines; Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; Obesity, diabetes mellitus.