Cause-specific mortality in 13,099 patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in Sweden

Previous studies on mortality in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) were either small, restricted to liver-related mortality, relied on liver biopsy to identify patients (thus inducing selection bias), or mainly used data from old cohorts. In a nationwide cohort study of all patients diagnosed with MASLD in inpatient or specialized outpatient care in Sweden between 2002 and 2020, we found a nearly doubled all-cause mortality rate and higher mortality than the general population from a wide range of causes, indicating that earlier multidisciplinary care may be needed to reduce premature mortality in patients with MASLD. The absolute risk estimates of death in our study may be useful for clinicians and policymakers to inform patients about their prognosis and potentially implement clinical or public health strategies to reduce premature mortality.