When further stratified by ultrasound pattern, the results only remained significant in men with raised GGT who also had a hyperechogenic ultrasound pattern (multiple-adjusted HR 6.22, 95% CI 1.2-31.62), although the CIs were very broad. Once again, clinical interpretation of the above study was limited by lack of adjustment for
established CVD risk factors. A small number of prospective studies have been based on gold standard liver biopsy–diagnosed NAFLD,32-36 with two showing no increased mortality with simple steatosis.32, 33 Of the remaining studies, one followed only 132 subjects for a mean of 104 months (12.7 years), 45 of whom died.34 Nine of these 45 deaths were CVD-related (joint second with cirrhosis-related death, the most common cause being neoplasia [n = 11]), but there was no ABT-199 purchase consideration of other CVD risk factors and no control group to enable risk calculations. The next study included 420 subjects with
NAFLD (varying severity) for a mean of 7.6 ± 4.0 years (range, 0.1-23.5 years).35 Nutlin-3a cell line This study included subjects with CVD at baseline. The results showed that there was an increase in overall mortality in subjects with NAFLD compared with the general population (CVD prevalence not specified); the SMR was 1.34 (95% CI 1.00-1.76), with 13 of the 53 deaths due to ischemic heart disease, the second highest cause after neoplasia (28%). The authors also noted that overall mortality for subjects with simple steatosis Aspartate at baseline was less than that in subjects with more severe forms of NAFLD (20% versus 35%), but that this difference was not statistically significant. Clearly, the modest sample sizes limit firm conclusions. Another study from Sweden prospectively followed 256 subjects who underwent liver biopsy between 1980 and 1984 for up to 28 years and, similar to the study by Jepsen et al.,29 used the national death registry to obtain information
on mortality data.36 The SMR for all cause mortality compared with the adjusted total Swedish population was 1.69 (95% CI 1.24-2.25) for subjects with NAFLD (bland steatosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis combined); 1.55 (95% CI 0.98-2.32) for subjects with bland (simple) steatosis, and 1.86 (95% CI 1.19-2.76) for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. The most common cause of death in NAFLD subjects was CVD (30% [n = 14]), closely followed by extrahepatic malignancy (28% [n = 13]). In subjects with bland steatosis, seven of the 23 deaths were due to CVD, and five were due to extrahepatic malignancy. This study had the strength of including asymptomatic subjects with a definitive diagnosis of NAFLD or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, but again was limited by small sample size and its ability to consider the extent to which such excess risk was accounted for by established risk factors.