Relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and severity of coronary artery disease in patients undergoing coronary angiography

Introduction and Aim: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by abnormal accumulation of fat in the liver, unrelated to alcohol use, and can progress from simple fatty liver to hepatocellular carcinoma. It is closely related to coronary artery disease (CAD), which is the most somon cause of death worldwide. The relationship between the degree of fibrosis due to NAFLD and the severity of CAD is not clear, and it was aimed to be evaluated in this study. Materials and Methods: The study is cross-sectional. 200 NAFLD patients over the age of 18 who underwent emergency or elective coronary angiography were included in this study. Ultrasonography was used as the imaging method for the diagnosis of NAFLD. Non alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (NFS) and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score were calculated to determine liver fibrosis stages. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and SYNTAX score were calculated to determine the severity of CAD. Results: In terms of CIMT; While there was no statistically significant difference between the stages of fatty liver, a significant difference was found between the non alcoholic fatty liver disease fibrosis score (NFS) and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score risk stages. In terms of SYNTAX score; No statistically significant correlation was found between the stages of fatty liver and the risk stages of fibrosis scores. When the patients were divided into two groups according to the median CIMT value, a significant difference was found in terms of NFS and FIB-4 scores. The patients were also divided into two groups according to the calculation of the SYNTAX score. When grouped as SYNTAX score>0 and score=0, there was a significant difference in terms of NFS, but no significant difference was found in terms of FIB-4 score. When the SYNTAX score was grouped as >22 and the score 1-22, no significant difference was found between them in terms of NFS and FIB-4 scores. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the prevalence and severity of CAD increase in progression from simple fatty liver to fibrotic liver. Our data supporting the literature reveal that the prevalence and severity of CAD are more closely related to NFS than the FIB-4 score.