UCSF Researches Non-invasive Procedure to Track Liver Disease

The following is a guest post by Dr. Aliya Qayyum, Professor in the Abdominal Imaging Section.

Obesity affects many Americans – including children. Many overweight people can develop liver problems, a condition known as “non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,” or NAFLD. In this condition, there is increased fat in the liver which can cause further liver damage.

The accepted way to confirm the presence of liver damage is liver biopsy. However, this is an invasive and painful procedure that can cause bleeding, bruising and infection. So at UCSF, we are developing a new technique using MRI to measure liver damage. The hope is that, eventually, we may not need to take samples of liver tissue to look for liver damage.