Ramilli S, Pretolani S, Muscari A, Pacelli B, Arienti V. Carotid lesions in outpatients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. World J Gastroenterol 2009; 15(38): 4770-4774 [PMID: 19824109 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.15.4770]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Antonio Muscari, MD, Professor, FESC, Department of Internal Medicine, Aging and Nephrological Diseases, University of Bologna, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Via Albertoni 15, 40138 Bologna, Italy. antonio.muscari@unibo.it
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World J Gastroenterol. Oct 14, 2009; 15(38): 4770-4774 Published online Oct 14, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.4770
Carotid lesions in outpatients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Stefano Ramilli, Stefano Pretolani, Antonio Muscari, Barbara Pacelli, Vincenzo Arienti
Stefano Ramilli, Stefano Pretolani, Vincenzo Arienti, Department of Internal Medicine, Maggiore Hospital, 40133 Bologna, Italy
Antonio Muscari, Department of Internal Medicine, Aging and Nephrological Diseases, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Barbara Pacelli, Epidemiology Unit, Local Health Authority, 40124 Bologna, Italy
Author contributions: Ramilli S, Pretolani S and Arienti V designed the study; Ramilli S performed carotid ultrasound assessments; Pacelli B performed statistical analysis of the data; Ramilli S , Pretolani S , Pacelli B and Muscari A wrote the paper; Muscari A and Arienti V critically revised the manuscript.
Supported by (in part) A grant from Gruppo Italiano di Ultrasonologia in Medicina Interna (GIUMI)
Correspondence to: Antonio Muscari, MD, Professor, FESC, Department of Internal Medicine, Aging and Nephrological Diseases, University of Bologna, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Via Albertoni 15, 40138 Bologna, Italy. antonio.muscari@unibo.it
Telephone: +39-51-6362280 Fax: +39-51-6362210
Received: August 7, 2009 Revised: August 24, 2009 Accepted: August 31, 2009 Published online: October 14, 2009
Abstract
AIM: To ascertain whether carotid lesions are more prevalent in outpatients with incidental findings of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) at abdominal ultrasound (US).
METHODS: One hundred and fifty-four consecutive outpatients (age range 24-90 years, both sexes) referred by general practitioners for abdominal US, and drinking less than 20 g alcohol/day, underwent carotid US for an assessment of carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) and carotid plaque prevalence. Hepatic steatosis, visceral fat thickness and subcutaneous fat thickness were also assessed at ultrasonography.
RESULTS: Higher c-IMT values were found in the presence of NAFLD (90 patients), even after adjustment for indices of general and abdominal obesity and for the principal cardiovascular risk factors (0.84 ± 0.10 mm vs 0.71 ± 0.10 mm, P < 0.001). The prevalence of carotid plaques was 57.8% in the patients with NAFLD vs 37.5% in the patients without this condition (P = 0.02). The adjusted relative risk of having carotid plaques for patients with NAFLD was 1.85 (95% CI: 1.33-2.57, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: An incidental finding of hepatic steatosis may suggest the presence of silent carotid atherosclerotic lesions.
