Optimal thresholds for ultrasound attenuation parameter in the evaluation of hepatic steatosis severity: evidence from a cohort of patients with biopsy-proven fatty liver disease.

OBJECTIVE: FibroTouch is a newly developed device to assess ultrasound attenuation parameter (UAP) and liver stiffness measurement to quantify hepatic steatosis and fibrosis, respectively. However, there is currently a lack of defined thresholds of UAP to diagnose different stages of hepatic steatosis. We aimed to assess the optimal thresholds of UAP for hepatic steatosis in individuals with biopsy-proven fatty liver disease (FLD). METHODS: We enrolled 497 adults with FLD undergoing FibroTouch and liver biopsy. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was performed to calculate the performance of UAP in staging hepatic steatosis. Hepatic steatosis >33% was defined as significant steatosis. We determined the optimal cutoff values of UAP and the sensitivity or specificity higher than 90%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were subsequently calculated. RESULTS: The median UAP for the enrolled patients was 308 dB/m. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that UAP was associated with significant steatosis [adjusted-odds ratio 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02-1.09; P = 0.001]. The AUROCs for S ≥ 1, S ≥ 2 and S = 3 were 0.88 (95% CI, 0.84-0.91), 0.77 (95% CI, 0.73-0.81), and 0.70 (95% CI, 0.63-0.77), respectively. The optimal UAP cutoffs were 295 dB/m for S ≥ 1, 314 dB/m for S ≥ 2, and 324 dB/m for S = 3. Almost identical results were observed in the subgroup of patients with biopsy-confirmed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (n = 435). CONCLUSION: We found that the AUROC values of UAP by FibroTouch were ranging from 0.70 to 0.88 for assessing hepatic steatosis severity. These UAP cutoffs could be applicable for clinical use.

Association between Hemoglobin Glycation Index and NAFLD in Chinese Nondiabetic Individuals.

Purpose: Limited studies have preliminarily identified a positive association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and hemoglobin glycation index (HGI). However, this association has not been fully established. We aim to investigate the association between NAFLD and HGI in Chinese nondiabetic individuals and to construct a risk score based on HGI to predict a person's risk of NAFLD. Methods: After strict exclusion criteria, 5,903 individuals were included in this retrospective cross-sectional study. We randomly selected 1,967 subjects in the enrollment to obtain an equation of linear regression, which was used to calculate predicted HbA1c and drive HGI. The other subjects were classified into four categories according to HGI level (≤-0.22, -0.21∼0.02, 0.03∼0.28, and ≥0.29). All subjects retrospectively reviewed the baseline characteristics, laboratory examinations, and abdominal ultrasonography. Results: The prevalence of NAFLD in this population was 20.7%, which increases along with the growth of HGI levels (P < 0.001). Adjusted to multiple factors, this trend still remained significant (OR: 1.172 (95% CI, 1.074-1.279)). The combined NAFLD risk score based on HGI resulted in an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.85 provided sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and a negative predictive value for NAFLD of 84.4%, 71.3%, 65.0%, and 88.0%, respectively. Conclusions: NAFLD is independently associated with HGI levels in Chinese nondiabetic individuals. And, NAFLD risk score may be used as one of the risk predictors of NAFLD in nondiabetic population.