Non-invasive screening of diabetics in primary care for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis by MRI and MRE

I Doycheva; J Cui; P Nguyen; E A Costa; J Hooker; H Hofflich; R Bettencourt; S Brouha; C B Sirlin; R Loomba

doi:10.1111/apt.13405

Non-invasive screening of diabetics in primary care for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis by MRI and MRE

Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2016 Jan;43(1):83-95. doi: 10.1111/apt.13405. Epub 2015 Sep 15.

Authors

I Doycheva¹, J Cui¹, P Nguyen^{1

2}, E A Costa³, J Hooker³, H Hofflich⁴, R Bettencourt⁵, S Brouha⁶, C B Sirlin³, R Loomba^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ NAFLD Translational Research Unit, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
² Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
³ Liver Imaging Group, Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁴ Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁵ Division of Epidemiology, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.

Abstract

Background: Current guidelines do not recommend screening for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or advanced fibrosis. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are known to be at increased risk for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis.

Aim: To assess the feasibility in diabetics in a primary care setting of screening for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis, by using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to estimate the hepatic proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to estimate hepatic stiffness.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study that included 100 (53% men) consecutively enrolled diabetics who did not have any other aetiology of liver disease. All patients underwent a standardised research visit, laboratory tests, MRI-PDFF, and MRE.

Results: Mean (±s.d.) age and body mass index (BMI) was 59.7 (±11.2) years and 30.8 (±6.5) kg/m(2) , respectively. The prevalence of NAFLD (defined as MRI-PDFF ≥5%) and advanced fibrosis (defined as MRE ≥3.6 kPa) was 65% and 7.1%, respectively. One patient with advanced fibrosis had definite hepatocellular carcinoma. When compared to those without NAFLD, patients with NAFLD were younger (P = 0.028) and had higher mean BMI (P = 0.0008), waist circumference (P < 0.0001) and prevalence of metabolic syndrome (84.6% vs. 40.0%, P < 0.0001). Only 26% of those with NAFLD had elevated alanine aminotransferase.

Conclusions: This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that T2DM has significant rates of both NAFLD and advanced fibrosis. Concomitant screening for NAFLD and advanced fibrosis by using MRI-proton density fat fraction and magnetic resonance elastography in T2DM is feasible and may be considered after validation in a larger cohort.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Body Mass Index
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / epidemiology*
Elasticity Imaging Techniques
Female
Humans
Liver Cirrhosis / diagnosis*
Liver Cirrhosis / epidemiology*
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Male
Middle Aged
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / diagnosis*
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / epidemiology*
Prevalence
Primary Health Care / methods*
Prospective Studies
Waist Circumference

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding