Farewell to the term ‘non-alcoholic fatty liver disease’

After years of debate, the nomenclature non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been changed to metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD (figure 1). This new name was accepted by a global consensus group of 236 panellists from 56 countries, mainly comprising of hepatology and gastroenterology clinicians, paediatricians, researchers, and patient group advocates. They participated in four online surveys and two hybrid meetings as part of a Delphi Study (figure 2). Consensus changes to terminology were based on a majority opinion of 67% or higher. The consensus statement on the new naming of fatty liver disease was recently published in the journal, Hepatology.