What Is fatty liver? How and why does one get diagnosed with fat in liver

Fatty liver disease is a condition wherein fats accumulate in the liver. These are termed as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and presents itself in the form of macrovesicular alterations without the presence of steatosis or lobular inflammation. Apart from alcohol and metabolic syndrome, the other causes of fatty liver disease may be intake of certain medications, metabolic storage diseases, inherited diseases like Wilson’s disease, autoimmune conditions like celiac sprue and alterations in diet viz. However, if the patient has had a history of chronic alcohol consumption, a diagnosis can be made based on laboratory finding after ruling out other causes of chronic liver diseases including chronic viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, hemochromatosis and drug related hepatotoxicity. In general, it is recommended that ALD should be suspected in any patient who has a history of prolonged alcohol consumption and who presents with abnormal enzyme levels, especially when aspartate aminotransferase is more than that of alanine aminotransferase, hepatomegaly, symptoms of chronic liver disease, imaging studies pointing to steatosis, fibrosis or cirrhosis, or biopsy suggesting macrovesicular steatosis.