Variance Between Clinical Guidance and Real-World Management of Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease in the United States.

Abstract

Clinical practice guidelines can facilitate diagnosis and management of patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis (MASH), although their implementation to date has been suboptimal.^1,2 Using recently published 2023 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) practice guidance-based recommendations as a reference,³ we assessed current real-world management of patients with MASH to identify gaps in clinical practice. We extracted data from the Adelphi Real World MASH Disease Specific Programme, a cross-sectional survey with retrospective data capture (from 85 hepatologists, gastroenterologists, and endocrinologists [Supplementary Table 1] and 633 patients [Supplementary Table 2] in the United States between January and June 2022). Two key goals of the AASLD guidance algorithm served as reference points: exclude fibrosis in low-prevalence populations (Goal A) and identify/manage people with 'at-risk' MASH or cirrhosis (Goal B).³ Patients were split into 2 groups: Goal A comprised 100 patients initially diagnosed by primary care physicians (PCPs)/endocrinologists, and Goal B included 533 patients managed by gastroenterologists/hepatologists.