Evidence mapPaperPMID 39400428Full record

SynthesisLiver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver2025

Accuracy of Non-Invasive Imaging Techniques for the Diagnosis of MASH in Patients With MASLD: A Systematic Review.

Jennifer Cathcart, Rachael Barrett, James S Bowness, Ashis Mukhopadhya, Ruairi Lynch, John F Dillon

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
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  5. Article
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  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Jennifer CathcartDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7051-8820
Rachael BarrettDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.ORCID 0009-0002-7041-3348
James S BownessUniversity College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Ashis MukhopadhyaGastroenterology Department, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen, UK.
Ruairi LynchDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
John F DillonDivision of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2164-4476

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimsMetabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a growing public health problem. The secondary stage in MASLD is steatohepatitis (MASH), the co-existence of steatosis and inflammation, a leading cause of progression to fibrosis and mortality. MASH resolution alone improves survival. Currently, MASH diagnosis is via liver biopsy. This study sought to evaluate the accuracy of imaging-based tests for MASH diagnosis, which offer a non-invasive method of diagnosis.

methodsEight academic literature databases were searched and references of previous systematic reviews and included papers were checked for additional papers. Liver biopsy was used for reference standard.

resultsWe report on 69 imaging-based studies. There were 31 studies on MRI, 27 on ultrasound, five on CT, 13 on transient elastography, eight on controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and two on scintigraphy. The pathological definition of MASH was inconsistent, making it difficult to compare studies. 55/69 studies (79.71%) were deemed high-risk of bias as they had no preset thresholds and no validation. The two largest groups of imaging papers were on MRI and ultrasound. AUROCs were up to 0.93 for MRE, 0.90 for MRI, 1.0 for magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and 0.94 for ultrasound-based studies.

conclusionsOur study found that the most promising imaging tools are MRI techniques or ultrasound-based scores and confirmed there is potential to utilise these for MASH diagnosis. However, many publications are single studies without independent prospective validation. Without this, there is no clear imaging tool or score currently available that is reliably tested to diagnose MASH.

Indexed as

LiverNon-alcoholic Fatty Liver DiseaseBiopsyElasticity Imaging TechniquesHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingTomography, X-Ray ComputedUltrasonographybiopsyimagingMASHMASLDnon‐invasive

Identifiers

PMID39400428
PMCPMC11891385

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.