Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and 10-year risk of cardiovascular diseases

Abstract

Background and aims: The association between cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was confirmed by a large body of evidence. This study was conducted to determine the association between NAFLD and 10-year CVD risk.

Methods: This study utilized the data of 2804 subjects aged 40-74 years from a cohort study of northern Iran. Two CVD risk assessment tools, American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and Framingham general cardiovascular risk profile for use in primary care, were utilized to determine the 10-year CVD risk in patients with NAFLD and the individuals without this condition. The mean risks were compared between these two groups.

Results: Using ACC/AHA approach, the mean risk in male participants suffering NAFLD was 14.2%, while in men without NAFLD was 11.7% (P-value < 0.0001). Using Framingham approach, the mean risks were 16.0 and 12.7% in men with and without NAFLD, respectively (P-value < 0.0001). Using ACC/AHA approach, the mean risks in female participants with and without NAFLD were 6.7 and 4.6%, respectively (P-value < 0.0001). Applying Framingham approach, the mean risk was 8.2% in women with NAFLD and 5.4% in women without NAFLD (P-value < 0.0001).

Conclusion: The individuals with NAFLD had a higher risk of 10-year CVD events than individuals without NAFLD, according to both ACC/AHA tool and primary care version of Framingham tool. A large proportion of NAFLD patients fulfill the criteria of statin therapy recommendation, suggesting that statin therapy could reduce 10-year CVD risk in NAFLD patients.

Keywords: 10-years cardiovascular risk; Epidemiology; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.