The obesity epidemic has led to a dramatic increase in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). While dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease guide treatment in patients without evidence of liver fibrosis, liver-related morbidity and mortality become relevant in advanced forms of MAFLD, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and when liver fibrosis develops. Statins should be prescribed for patients without significant fibrosis despite concomitant liver disease but are underused in real-world settings.

With the growing obesity epidemic and the rise of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, the management of patients with chronic liver disease has become quite complex. Patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis often have multiple comorbidities, exhibiting various features of the metabolic syndrome, increasing the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

In recent decades, the proportion of contributions of different causes to the total burden of chronic liver disease has changed.