Keywords
hepatosteatosis
ultrasonography
atherosclerosis
Carotid artey intima-media thickness
How to Cite
Abstract
Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) encompasses conditions ranging from simple hepatosteatosis to severe liver cirrhosis. It is strongly correlated with components of metabolic syndrome such as insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and obesity. As NAFLD patients have higher cardiovascular risk, ultrasonography assessed carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) provides a non-invasive measure of evaluating atherosclerosis.
Objective: To evaluate CIMT among NAFLD patients by using B-mode ultrasonography to assess NAFLD as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis.
Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among NAFLD patients aged 18–80 years undergoing ultrasound at Kathmandu Medical College. Patients with alcohol consumption >30g/day or other comorbidities such as chronic liver disease and cardiovascular disease were excluded. Calculated sample size was 196 and convenience sampling technique was used. CIMT and hepatic echogenicity were assessed by B-mode ultrasonography. Data were collected via a proforma, and descriptive statistics like frequency percentage, mean±SD was calculated to see the distribution and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was done to evaluate the difference in CIMT. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital (Ref:199012024/07).
Results: Among 196 patients, 120 (61.2%) patients had Grade I fatty liver, 71 (36.2%) had Grade II fatty changes and 5 (2.6 %) had Grade III fatty liver respectively. The mean right and left CIMT were 0.65mm and 0.67mm respectively. CIMT increased significantly with the severity of fatty liver (p=0.001).
Conclusion: NAFLD is significantly associated with early carotid atherosclerosis, supporting its role as an independent cardiovascular risk factor.
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