BARD SCORING IN ASSESSING HEPATIC FIBROSIS IN PATIENTS WITH NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE

Background - Development of Fatty liver in the absence of alcohol abuse or a known aetiology causing Liver disease is referred to as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and is an increasing major Health burden at present. Aim - To assess the severity of Hepatic Fibrosis in patients with NAFLD using BARD scoring, a non-invasive measure. Methods - 50 cases and 50 controls were selected and their serum was estimated for FBS, PPBS, AST, ALT and ALP. BARD scoring was done for the cases and was correlated with the grade of the Fatty Liver. Results - 100 percentage of the patients with Grade 1 Fatty Liver had negative prediction in BARD scoring for Hepatic Fibrosis , 45 percentage of patients with Grade 2 Fatty Liver had positive prediction in BARD scoring for Hepatic Fibrosis and 100 percentage of patients with Grade 3 Fatty Liver had positive prediction in BARD scoring for Hepatic Fibrosis. Conclusion - BARD scoring can predict the presence or absence of advanced Fibrosis in patients with NAFLD, making Liver biopsy unnecessary in majority of the patients.