Sonographic Evaluation of Mean Carotid Intima-Media Thickness of Patients with Moderate to Severe Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a highly prevalent condition that is strongly associated with obesity, type II diabetes, and dyslipidemia. The purpose of this study is to investigate mean common carotid artery intima-media thickness as a marker of atherosclerosis in moderate to severe nonalcoholic fatty liver patients in comparison with control group. Materials and Methods: In this study, the mean common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCIMT) and other cardiovascular risk factors were measured in 39 nonalcoholic fatty liver patients and 39 control subjects. All were selected from general population in Zahedan. Then, the data were analyzed using ?2 and independent t-tests. Results: The results showed that nonalcoholic fatty liver patients had significantly higher common carotid intima-media thickness, waist circumference, waist/hip ratio, body mass index, triglyceride, total cholesterol (p=0.001), ALT (p=0.04), ALP (p=0.048), compared with the control group. Conclusion: Nonalcoholic fatty acid liver patients are at significantly higher risk for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, all of these patients should be evaluated for common carotid intima-media thickness and other cardiovascular risk factors.