It usually produces no symptoms. Rarely, it causes jaundice, nausea, vomiting, pain, and abdominal tenderness. It is usually diagnosed easily by ultrasonographic examination of the liver. The mere presence of excessive fat in the liver is not a serious problem. However, repeated liver injury from toxic substances such as alcohol may eventually progress to cirrhosis.
Treatment aims at eliminating the cause or treating the underlying disorder.
Fat accumulating in the liver is mainly in the form of triglycerides and fatty acids , and also is present in small amounts in the form of cholesterol, cholesterol ester and phospholipids. These terminology may have precisely their own specific meaning, but generally they are used to mean fat accumulation in the liver. Histologic findings of fat deposit in the liver is different by the size and distribution of the fat in hepatic cells. In macrovesicular type , hepatocyte contains a large fat droplet with eccentric displacement of nucleus. In microvesicular type , hepatocyte contains multiple small droplets with nuleus at the center.