ABSTRACT
Given the high prevalence of NAFLD and its potentially progressive nature, identifying high-risk patients who will benefit from timely pharmacologic treatment is the highest unmet need in the field. In the previous chapters, experts discussed the landscape of noninvasive tests, both serologic and imaging, and their contexts of use. They also discussed the mechanisms of action and preliminary trials data of the main therapeutic agents in development for NASH. In this chapter, we will discuss how to select patients for pharmacologic treatment without the need for invasive liver biopsies, how to monitor response to treatment, the future scenarios that may develop when more than one drug is approved by the FDA, and certain aspects of the management of NASH cirrhosis. We envision that the management of NAFLD will be transformed in the next 5 years with rapid progress that is being made on both the diagnostic and therapeutic fronts.
