Carotid intima-media thickness is increased not only in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients but also in alcoholic fatty liver patients

Background/Aims: There are many reports of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients with increased carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). However, there is little information about carotid IMT in alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD) patients. We aimed to compare the carotid IMT of NAFLD patients and AFLD patients. Methods: The medical records of individuals who underwent carotid IMT measurement and abdominal ultrasonography between January 2006 and December 2008 at Korea University Ansan Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into group A (no fatty liver without alcohol history), group B (NAFLD), group C (AFLD) and group D (no fatty liver with alcohol history). The carotid IMT results were compared across all groups. Results: The mean carotid IMT was 0.55 ± 0.1 mm for group A, 0.6 ± 0.1 mm for group B, 0.59 ± 0.1 mm for group C, and 0.54 ± 0.1 mm for group D. There were significant differences between groups A and B, groups A and C, and groups C and D (p < 0.05), but there were no differences between groups B and C (p = 0.736). Conclusions: We determined that patients with fatty livers have an increased carotid IMT both in NAFLD and AFLD patients.