Infiltración grasa hepática difusa y su correlación con índice de masa corporal, triglicéridos y transaminasas

Abstract

Introduction: Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a frequent condition with an insidious course. Lack of consensus for the diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of this condition remains, mainly because our understanding of its natural history is incomplete and non-invasive diagnosis is not available. Methods: This is a prospective, observational correlation study using a non-random sample taken from patients at the Chequeo Medico service in Fundacion CardioInfantil Instituto de Cardiologia. Clinical and laboratory variables were registered including BMI, triglycerides and transaminases as well as ultrasonographinc appearance of the liver. We conducted a non-parametric analysis of variance using the Krustal-Wallis test and correlation analysis using the Spearman correlation index. Results: 619 patients were included. Statistically significant variation (p<0,001) was observed in all the variables grouped according to the ultrasonographic appearance of the liver. Positive and statistically significant (p<0,001) correlation coefficients were found as well for all variables. Discussion: Ultrasonographic evaluation of fatty infiltration is an attractive option for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with NAFLD because it is non-invasive, low-cost and widely available. These results suggest that this method might be useful in for these purposes given the variation of all analyzed parameters according to the appearance of the liver. Correlation coefficients also suggest that the possibility of predicting serum levels of transaminases or triglycerides should be further evaluated. Conclusions: These results support that, in this population, ultrasonographic evaluation of the liver useful for the diagnosis and follow-up of the patient with NAFLD.