What ultrasound operators must be well aware of in a world with raising burden of non alcoholic fatty liver disease?

Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the manifestations of the metabolic syndrome. The latter is mainly determined by the presence of overweight and type 2 diabetes, whose prevalence is rapidly raising in developed Countries (almost 40 % in adult US Americans in 2013 – 2016) [1] in keeping with more food availability, cheap trash food, rich in fat, and soft drinks rich in sugar. The trend is even more worrisome, if one considers also the rapidly growing prevalence of children obesity. Given the magnitude of such a problem, expected to fully blow in the third decade of the third millennium, that we will be entering in less than 12 months, and the potential role of ultrasound in these patients a critical appraisal to this issue, as seen from the ultrasonographic standpoint, appears relevant.