抄録
Introduction: Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) often demonstrate liver injury, as reflected by an elevated serum level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT). This study examined whether the presence of
liver injury could be predicted based on findings from conventional sonography.
Methods: Subjects were 81 adult female NAFLD patients (mean age, 62 ± 14 years). Defining liver injury as ALT levels >30 IU/L, sonographic findings were compared between patients with and without liver injury. In turn, ALT levels and liver size (defined as the sum of the length of the right lobe [R1+R2] and left lobe [L1+L2]
were compared among the three classical grades of fatty liver by sonography.
Results: Grade 3 fatty liver, deep attenuation, and hepatomegaly demonstrated relatively high odds ratios for
the presence of liver injury. Median L1+L2 and R1+R2+L1+L2 were significantly longer in patients with liver
injury (164 mm [interquartile range, 149–178 mm] and 289 mm [267–314 mm]) than in those without (147 mm
[130–156 mm] and 260 mm [247–281 mm], respectively; p <0.001 each). ALT levels, L1+L2, and R1+R2+L1+L2
increased with increasing fatty liver grade.
Conclusion: The present study suggests that grade 3 fatty liver, deep attenuation and/or hepatomegaly allow easy, non-invasive prediction of the presence of liver injury in elderly women with NAFLD using conventional
sonography.
