Clinical Research Directory

Interventional AI-Human Collaboration for Steatotic Liver Disease Screening

Steatotic liver disease (SLD) is one of the most prevalent chronic liver diseases worldwide, affecting nearly 30% of the global population and projected to exceed 55% by 2040. Timely identification and management of intermediate- and high-risk SLD patients are essential, yet early detection remains challenging because current diagnostic modalities, such as biopsy, ultrasonography, and serum indices, are invasive, insensitive, operator-dependent, or difficult to scale. In contrast, non-contrast CT is widely available in routine care and offers substantial potential for opportunistic SLD screening, although this value has not been fully utilized. Our previously developed MAOSS model accurately identifies intermediate- and high-risk individuals, with MAOSS score≥1.6 combined with Fibro Score ≥1.7, demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity in our large-scale retrospective study. However, despite these promising retrospective findings, the model has not undergone prospective interventional validation, and it remains unclear whether an AI-guided workflow can truly enhance clinical risk stratification, diagnostic yield, and downstream management in real-world SLD populations. Therefore, a prospective intervention study is needed to determine whether MAOSS-guided identification and recall of at-risk individuals can meaningfully improve fibrosis detection and optimize clinical care pathways for SLD.

Long-term Follow-up to Determine Outcome in Liver Disease (LOVE Study)

The rational to conduct the LOVE study builds on the lack of available data on outcomes in steatotic liver disease in well characterized patients over a time frame of several years. At current limited data on liver-specific and overall outcome in patients with MASLD, MetALD and ALD are available. Liver histology is the only accepted surrogate to reasonably likely predict outcomes in patients with non-cirrhotic liver disease and is currently used in regulatory trials. To overcome the limitations of liver biopsy and use validated non-invasive tests (NITs) to predict outcomes, the LOVE study will be conducted based on existing cohort studies in well pheno- and genotyped patients and will inform on the relevant outcomes based on baseline and ongoing biomarker assessment. The overarching goal is to qualify a NIT for patient identification and preventive measures in the regulatory context.

Investigating Myosteatosis in Steatotic Liver Diseases

Steatotic liver diseases (SLD) are the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide. SLD are defined by an excessive liver lipid content (steatosis) of more than 5% of the total liver weight and includes 3 clinical entities : metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and a mixed entity combining the two settings referred as MetALD. SLD are associated to extra-hepatic complications such as cardiovascular diseases, insulin resistance or muscle changes. Among the latter, myosteatosis, defined by an excessive muscle fat content, has been reported as a muscle change in MASLD occuring even in non-cirrhotic stages. Investigators will explore these muscle changes in SLD patients according to the severity of the underneath liver disease.