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Health Dictionary

Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease MRI

Introduction

Overview

Overview

Abdominal MRI may be helpful in the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Findings on MRI suggestive of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease include quantification of the hepatic steatosis. MRI has a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 93% in diagnosing NAFLD. However, it uses is limited because of the cost.

MRI

MRI

  • Abdominal MRI may be helpful in the diagnosis of NAFLD.[1][2][3]
  • Findings on MRI suggestive NAFLD include:
  • MRI also helps longitudinal follow-up of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to check response to therapy
  • Another kind of MRI is magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) which reflects fat in the whole liver like triglycerides in a specific volume; and proton density fat fraction (PDFF).[6]
  • Magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction has a sensitivity of 77% to 92% and specificity of 87% to 94% for detecting any degree of hepatic steatosis. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy has sensitivity and specificity of approximately 95% to 98%, but these methods are primarily used in clinical trials and specialized centers.[7]
References

References

  1. ↑ “Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Diagnosis and Management – American Family Physician”.
  2. ↑ “Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Diagnosis and Management – American Family Physician”.
  3. ↑ Tilg H, Petta S, Stefan N, Targher G (January 2026). “Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in Adults: A Review”. JAMA. 335 (2): 163–174. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.19615. PMID 41212550 Check |pmid= value (help).
  4. ↑ Ligabue G, Besutti G, Scaglioni R, Stentarelli C, Guaraldi G (2013). “MR quantitative biomarkers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: technical evolutions and future trends”. Quant Imaging Med Surg. 3 (4): 192–5. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2223-4292.2013.08.01. PMC 3759141. PMID 24040614.
  5. ↑ Lee SS, Park SH (2014). “Radiologic evaluation of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease”. World J. Gastroenterol. 20 (23): 7392–402. doi:10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7392. PMC 4064084. PMID 24966609.
  6. ↑ Di Martino M, Koryukova K, Bezzi M, Catalano C (2017). “Imaging Features of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children and Adolescents”. Children (Basel). 4 (8). doi:10.3390/children4080073. PMC 5575595. PMID 28800087.
  7. ↑ Tilg H, Petta S, Stefan N, Targher G (January 2026). “Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in Adults: A Review”. JAMA. 335 (2): 163–174. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.19615. PMID 41212550 Check |pmid= value (help).

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Vamsikrishna Gunnam M.B.B.S [2] Parth Vikram Singh, MBBS[3]