MAFLD: How is it different from NAFLD?

• Published in: Clinical and molecular hepatology Vol. 29; no. Suppl; pp. S17 - S31
• Main Authors: Gofton, Cameron, Upendran, Yadhavan, Zheng, Ming-Hua, George, Jacob
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Association for the Study of the Liver 01.02.2023; The Korean Association for the Study of the Liver; 대한간학회
• Subjects: Alcohol use; Fatty liver; Gastroenterology; High density lipoprotein; Humans; Liver cirrhosis; Liver diseases; mafld; mafld vs. nafld; Metabolic Diseases - classification; Metabolic Diseases - diagnosis; Metabolism; nafld; Name changes; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - classification; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - diagnosis; Overweight; Patients; Perceptions; Review; Risk factors; Terminology; 내과학; MAFLD; MAFLD vs. NAFLD; NAFLD
• ISSN: 2287-2728; 2287-285X; 2287-285X
• DOI: 10.3350/cmh.2022.0367

“Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD)” is the term suggested in 2020 to refer to fatty liver disease related to systemic metabolic dysregulation. The name change from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to MAFLD comes with a simple set of criteria to enable easy diagnosis at the bedside for the general medical community, including primary care physicians. Since the introduction of the term, there have been key areas in which the superiority of MAFLD over the traditional NAFLD terminology has been demonstrated, including for the risk of liver and extrahepatic mortality, disease associations, and for identifying high-risk individuals. Additionally, MAFLD has been adopted by a number of leading pan-national and national societies due to its concise diagnostic criterion, removal of the requirement to exclude concomitant liver diseases, and reduction in the stigma associated with this condition. The current article explores the differences between MAFLD and NAFLD diagnosis, areas of benefit, some potential limitations, and how the MAFLD terminology has opened up new fields of research.