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. 2022 Sep 27;12(10):2336.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics12102336.

Liver Stiffness Is Associated with the Burden of Carotid and Systemic Atherosclerosis in an Unorganized Cohort of Patients 40-64 Years Old

Alla Kuznetsova  1 , Anastasiya Dolgushina  1 , Albina Savochkina  2 , Lubov Pykhova  2 , Veronika Sumerkina  2 , Anna Selyanina  1 , Yana Kudrinskaya  3 , Vadim Genkel  3
Affiliations

Liver Stiffness Is Associated with the Burden of Carotid and Systemic Atherosclerosis in an Unorganized Cohort of Patients 40-64 Years Old

Alla Kuznetsova et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: The aim of the study is to research the relationship between the severity of liver fibrosis and the burden of carotid and systemic atherosclerosis. Methods: The study includes 163 patients 40 to 64 years of age without atherosclerotic CVD or liver disease. All patients underwent duplex scanning of the carotid and lower limb arteries. All patients underwent transient liver elastometry using the FibroScan (Echosens, France). Results: Carotid plaque was detected in 110 (67.5%) patients. Based on the results of linear regression analysis, relationships between liver stiffness and carotid total plaque area (r = 0.21; p = 0.025) were found. Significant relationships were established between liver stiffness and atherosclerosis burden score based on the results of linear regression (r = 0.17; p = 0.029). Liver stiffness showed moderate diagnostic performance (AUC 0.666; p = 0.01) with regard to generalized atherosclerosis. An increase in liver stiffness >4.5 kPa was associated with an odds ratio of generalized atherosclerosis of 3.48 (95% CI 1.07−11.3; p = 0.038) after adjusting confounding factors. Conclusion: Among patients 40−64 years of age without established atherosclerotic CVD and liver disease, liver stiffness directly correlates with the burden of carotid and systemic atherosclerosis. Liver stiffness showed moderate diagnostic performance (AUC 0.666; p = 0.01) with regard to generalized atherosclerosis.

Keywords: atherosclerosis; liver fibrosis; liver stiffness; plaque burden; transient elastometry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of liver stiffness values in relative (A) and absolute (B) values. In Figure 1B, each point represents a single case. The lines indicate the median and the 95% confidence interval for the median.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Results of linear regression analysis. The blue line represents the regression line, the dashed lines represent the 95% confidence interval. The heatmap reflects the density of observations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relationships of liver stiffness and ABS. The blue line represents the regression line, the dashed lines represent the 95% confidence interval. The heatmap reflects the density of observations.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Liver stiffness values in patients with generalized atherosclerosis (ABS = 4). Each point represents a single case. The lines in the figure represent (from inside to outside): median, upper and lower quartile, minimum and maximum.
Figure 5
Figure 5
ROC curves demonstrating the diagnostic value of liver stiffness in relation to generalized atherosclerosis. Sub-figures (A,B) show the selected cut-off points that provide optimal values of sensitivity (A) and specificity (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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