Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis with normal aminotransferase values

AIM: To investigate the aspects of liver histology in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) who had normal aminotransferase levels. METHODS: Thirty-four patients diagnosed with liver steatosis by ultrasonographic examination participated in the study. We compared all nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and NASH cases, according to aminotransferase level, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio and presence of metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: Sixteen of 25 patients with high aminotransferase levels were diagnosed with NASH and nine with simple fatty liver according to liver histology. Among the nine patients with normal aminotransferase levels, seven had NASH and two had simple fatty liver. The patients; with normal and high liver enzyme levels had almost the same prevalence of NASH and metabolic syndrome. Liver histology did not reveal any difference according to aminotransferase levels and AST/ALT ratio. CONCLUSION: Aminotransferase levels and AST/ALT ratio do not seem to be reliable predictors for NASH. Despite numerous non-invasive biomarkers, all patients with fatty liver should undergo liver biopsy. (C) 2009 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.