Prevalence of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) Utilizing Ultrasound and Percutaneous Liver Biopsy

All patients with a positive ultrasound for hepatic steatosis offered a liver biopsy after obtaining fasting blood work that included a complete blood count, coagulation studies, liver function tests, fasting lipid panel, glucose and insulin. Patients with a negative ultrasound for fatty liver are not referred for liver biopsy and are considered as completed study patients. Serum is also stored for adipokine and cytokine analysis. A study investigator using a 14g Bard Monopty biopsy gun performs the liver biopsy.