In this journal article “Cause-specific mortality in 13,099 patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in Sweden” the revelation is that compared with the general population, the risk of death is nearly twice as high in people with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), a form of fatty liver disease.
The study is based on data from Sweden and was published in the Journal of Hepatology on March 24, 2025..
“Conclusions
MASLD was strongly associated with liver- and HCC-related mortality, but the absolute risks of death were highest for non-HCC cancer and cardiovascular disease. Mortality was increased for nearly all causes in patients with MASLD, suggesting that earlier multidisciplinary care is needed to reduce excess mortality.
Impact and implications
Previous studies on mortality in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) were either small, restricted to liver-related mortality, relying on liver biopsy to identify patients and thus inducing selection bias, or mainly using data from old cohorts. In a nationwide cohort study of all patients diagnosed with MASLD in inpatient or specialized outpatient care in Sweden between 2002 and 2020, we found a nearly doubled all-cause mortality rate and higher mortality than the general population from a wide range of causes, indicating that earlier multidisciplinary care may be needed to reduce premature mortality in patients with MASLD. The absolute risk estimates of death in our study may be useful for clinicians and policymakers to inform patients about their prognosis and potentially implement clinical or public health strategies to reduce premature mortality.”
Key graphic from the report–
