Study Links Fatty Liver and Heart Failure in Obese People

Fatty liver itself—at least in obesity—could pose a risk of myocardial dysfunction above and beyond known cardiovascular risk factors which are clustered within the metabolic syndrome, according to new research.

Ralph L. Widya, M.D., of the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, The Netherlands, and colleagues used proton MR spectroscopy to noninvasively measure hepatic triglyceride content and cardiac MRI to assess left ventricular diastolic function in 714 men and women aged 45 to 65 years. Of the 714 patients, 47 percent were categorized as overweight, and 13 percent were classified as obese.

The researchers found median hepatic triglyceride content was highest in the obese subgroup. Furthermore, the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was markedly higher in the obese subgroup. Also, left ventricle (LV) end-diastolic volume and LV mass indexed to body surface area (BSA) were higher in the obese subgroup.

“Hepatic triglyceride content was associated with decreased diastolic function, but adjustments for confounding factors attenuated this association. Only in persons with obesity could an association independent of the metabolic syndrome and abdominal visceral adiposity be demonstrated significantly,” the authors write.

Look for a full report in the April issue of RSNA News.