Severe, but not mild to moderate, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease associated with increased risk of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis

Abstract

Background

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with high risk of cardiovascular disease. The prevalence is increasing to 45–65% in the general population with routine health check-up, and most subjects have the mild degree NAFLD in recent years. Moreover, there are no studies on the association between NAFLD severity and coronary atherosclerosis in the real-world setting by ultrasonography.

Methods

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the severity of NAFLD and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis. Overall, 817 subjects meet criteria for NAFLD were enrolled in the retrospective cohort study (155 subjects were excluded). The severity of NAFLD was divided into the normal, mild, moderate and severe degree based on the finding of abdominal ultrasonography. The assessment of coronary atherosclerosis was based on CAC scan/coronary CT angiography finding in terms of CAC score ≧ 100, CAC score ≧ 400, CAD-RADS ≧ 3 and presence of vulnerable plaque(s).

Results

A significant linear trend was observed between the severity of NAFLD and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis. Compared with the reference group (including normal, mild, and moderate NAFLD), severe degree NAFLD was the independently associated risk of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in term of CAC score ≧ 100, CAC score ≧ 400, CAD-RADS ≧ 3 and presence of vulnerable plaque(s) based on binary logistic regression after adjustment for FRS score and body fat percentage.

Conclusions

Severe degree, but not mild to moderate, was associated with high risk of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis, independently of FRS score and body-fat percentage.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-021-02060-z.