Évolution de la nomenclature des maladies hépatiques stéatosiques : vers un changement de paradigme

Abstract

Metabolic steatotic diseases affect 16.7% of the French population, i.e. approximately 8 million individuals. Approximately 60% of type 2 diabetes patients have hepatic steatosis, 30% of whom also have fibrosis. The progression of fibrosis, linked to systemic inflammation, is associated with a significant increase in cardiovascular and cancer mortality (particularly hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal adenocarcinoma). In 2023, an international reform of the nomenclature led to the replacement of the old terminology “non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)” and “non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)” in order to better reflect the metabolic causes. The following terms were defined: “steatotic liver disease (SLD)”, which refers to all forms of steatosis, “metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)”, which explicitly includes metabolic factors, and “metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH)”, which emphasizes histologically confirmed metabolic steatohepatitis. A new entity, “metabolic alcohol-related liver disease (MetALD),” refers to MASLD with moderate but regular alcohol consumption. The definition of “alcohol-related liver disease (ALD)” remains unchanged (alcohol consumption greater than 50–60 g/day). “Cryptogenic steatosis” includes cases with no known cause. This new classification allows for the continued use of previous data and aims to improve patient stratification for personalized treatments.