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Patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) have elevated risk for progressive liver fibrosis compared with patients who have simple steatosis. Knowing which clinical or pathological features are associated with progressive fibrosis in NASH patients would be useful. However, few prospective studies in which serial biopsies were examined have evaluated risk factors in this setting.
To address this issue, investigators prospectively identified 271 obese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease who underwent liver biopsy at a single center in Italy between 1993 and 2003. All patients were referred to a nutritionist for treatment of obesity; no experimental pharmacological agent was given for the treatment of fatty liver disease. A t…