Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a rapidly expanding public health concern that should not be ignored. With the obesity rates in America reaching 78.6 million (or 35% of the population), one of the major complications we see is the development of fatty liver.

Fatty liver disease may commonly goes by several different names, which leads to confusion. The classification of the terms is listed below:

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)

Encompasses the entire spectrum of fatty liver disease in individuals without significant alcohol consumption, ranging from fatty liver to steatohepatitis and cirrhosis.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver (NAFL)

Presence of hepatic steatosis with no evidence of hepatocellular injury in the form of ballooning of the hepatocytes or no evidence of fibrosis. The risk of progression to cirrhosis and liver failure is minimal.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)

Presence of hepatic steatosis and inflammation with hepatocyte injury (ballooning) with or without fibrosis. This can progress to cirrhosis, liver failure and rarely liver cancer.

NASH Cirrhosis

Presence of cirrhosis with current or previous histological evidence of steatosis or steatohepatitis.

Cryptogenic Cirrhosis

Presence of cirrhosis with no obvious etiology. Patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis are heavily enriched with metabolic risk factors such as obesity and metabolic syndrome.

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