Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endemic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.
Centre des Maladies Digestives, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Liver Int. 2022 Apr;42(4):742-748. doi: 10.1111/liv.15197. Epub 2022 Feb 24.
Polarizing opinions have recently arisen in hepatology on the name and redefinition of fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction. In spite of growing and robust evidence of the superior utility of the term metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) definition for clinical and academic practice, controversy abounds. It should therefore come, as no surprise that the most common arguments used in contrarian op-eds is that there are no consensus on any name change. In this context, we suggest that discourse on an accurate understanding of what scientific consensus means, the various methods of achieving consensus, as well as other alternative models for reaching agreement is pivotal for the field. In this opinion piece, we provide an overview of these aspects as it applies to the case of fatty liver disease. We provide evidence that consensus on a change from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to MAFLD has already been achieved. We believe that the time has come for redirecting stakeholder focus and energy on capitalizing on the momentum generated by the debate to improve the lives of people at its centre, our patients.
近年来，在肝脏病学领域，对于代谢功能障碍相关脂肪性肝病的名称和重新定义存在着两极分化的观点。尽管越来越多的证据表明代谢（功能障碍）相关脂肪性肝病（MAFLD）的术语定义在临床和学术实践中具有更好的实用性，但争议仍然存在。因此，毫不奇怪，在持反对意见的专栏文章中最常使用的论点是，对于任何名称变更都没有共识。在这种情况下，我们认为，对于准确理解科学共识意味着什么、达成共识的各种方法以及其他达成一致的替代模式进行讨论，对于该领域至关重要。在这篇观点文章中，我们概述了这些方面，以适用于脂肪性肝病的情况。我们提供的证据表明，已经就从非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）更改为 MAFLD 达成了共识。我们认为，现在是时候将利益相关者的关注和精力重新集中在利用辩论产生的动力上，以改善其中心人群，即我们的患者的生活。
