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Cardiovascular risk factors in non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease
Author(s) -
Hagström Hannes,
Nasr Patrik,
Ekstedt Mattias,
Hammar Ulf,
Stål Per,
Askling Johan,
Hultcrantz Rolf,
Kechagias Stergios
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
liver international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.873
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1478-3231
pISSN - 1478-3223
DOI - 10.1111/liv.13973
Subject(s) - medicine , fatty liver , hazard ratio , proportional hazards model , disease , cohort , population , gastroenterology , cohort study , steatohepatitis , confidence interval , environmental health
Abstract Background & Aims Patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is unclear whether histological variables may help predict CVD risk. We evaluated histology and traditional CV risk factors as predictors of CVD outcomes in a large NAFLD cohort. Methods We included 603 biopsy‐proven NAFLD patients free of baseline CVD and matched these (1:10, by age, sex and municipality) to 6269 population controls. All individuals were cross‐linked to national registries to ascertain incident CVD events, defined as acute ischaemic heart disease or stroke. The presence of CV risk factors and liver histology were available in NAFLD patients only. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for incident CVD. Results During a mean follow‐up of 18.6 years, 168 (28%) of NAFLD patients and 1325 (21%) of controls experienced a CVD event (HR 1.54, 95%CI 1.30‐1.83). Within the NAFLD cohort, age, male sex, type 2 diabetes, smoking and triglycerides were associated with risk of CVD. Taking these CV risk factors into account, no histological parameter, including presence of NASH and fibrosis stage, were associated with incident CVD. Conclusions Patients with NAFLD are at an increased risk for CVD compared to matched controls, but histological parameters do not seem to independently predict this risk.