A randomized trial of iron depletion in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and hyperferritinemia

Figure 3 Effect of treatment on liver damage. Prevalence of demonstrated histological improvement of liver damage at 2 years (any improvement in NAS score without worsening of fibrosis stage; main outcome of the study) in all patients who underwent randomization (panel A; n = 38; intention to treat analysis), and in patients compliant to the study protocol [panel B; n = 21 (19 biopsied and 2 failures due to serious adverse events), per protocol analysis]. The effect of treatment on overall liver damage assessment [improvement in liver histology or alanine aminotransferases (ALT) decrease ≥ 20% at the end of the study (n = 35, three patients could not be assessed because lost to final follow-up evaluation); direct and indirect analysis of liver damage evolution in all patients that completed follow-up] is shown in panel C.