Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) currently represents one of the most common liver diseases worldwide. Early diagnosis and disease staging is crucial, since it is mainly asymptomatic, but can progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) or cirrhosis or even lead to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Over time, efforts have been put into developing noninvasive diagnostic and staging methods in order to replace the use of a liver biopsy. The noninvasive methods used include imaging techniques that measure liver stiffness and biological markers, with a focus on serum biomarkers. Due to the impressive complexity of the NAFLD’s pathophysiology, biomarkers are able to assay different processes involved, such as apoptosis, fibrogenesis, and inflammation, or even address the genetic background and “omics” technologies. This article reviews not only the currently validated noninvasive methods to investigate NAFLD but also the promising results regarding recently discovered biomarkers, including biomarker panels and the combination of the currently validated evaluation methods and serum markers.

Background and Objectives: The transition from pediatric to adult-oriented healthcare is challenging and data on parental involvement and perception regarding the transition of children with chronic digestive diseases are scarce. Materials and Methods: Legal guardians of adolescents with chronic digestive diseases receiving care at a North-Eastern Romanian tertiary center and private offices were administered a 30-item survey. Results: There were 124 responders; 73.4% lived in rural areas; 81.5% were patients’ mothers. Positive correlations were found between parents’ perception of the child’s readiness for health-related decisions and appreciation of the children’s preparedness for transition (0.544; p = 0.000), between parents encouraging their children to maintain healthcare records and their perception of the children’s knowledge about their disease (0.67; p = 0.000), between parents’ fear of therapeutic breaks during transition and their perception of the need for transition training (0.704; p = 0.000), between fears for children’s impropriate health-related choices, fears of therapeutic breaks (0.573; p = 0.00) and parental perception that the adult physicians would be more patient-oriented and less family-centered (0.453; p < 0.000) and between parents’ trust in their children’s self-management skills and encouraging them to make decisions on their own (0.673; p < 0.000). Conclusions: The results of our study highlight the importance of addressing parental fears during special parent–children counseling sessions and promoting a child’s independence, chronic disease knowledge, records and alone consultations.

Background: The transition from the pediatric to the adult healthcare system is a challenging process involving adolescents, parents, and pediatric and adult specialists. For a successful approach for an organized transition program, we must assess the level of training of adolescents facing transition. Methods: We applied a clinic-based questionnaire measuring perceived self-management skills, adherence to health-related tasks, medication knowledge, and social adjustment to pediatric patients with chronic digestive diseases from North-East Romanian medical units, including a tertiary center and private practice offices. Results: There were 124 participants; 73.38% from rural areas, 26.62% from urban areas; 59.67% were females, and 40.33% were males; 91.93% attended school and 73.4% declared wanting to pursue university classes after turning 18. Adolescents from urban areas showed better medication managerial (p < 0.01) and tracking healthcare change skills. Significant correlations were found between medication and appointment making, tracking health dynamics, and communication skills. Other correlations were found between communication skills and medication knowledge, appointments management, and tracking healthcare dynamics. All the investigated domains were positively correlated with the overall scores, highlighting the potential impact of active targeted interventions during transition. Conclusions: We identified significant areas to address and potentially influence during an organized transition program such as communication skills and knowledge regarding the chronic disease and the followed medication.