Relationship between Different Ultrasonographic Grades of Fatty Liver and Serum Alanine Aminotransferase Levels in Asymptomatic Individuals

Abstract

Objective: to determine the relationship between different ultrasonographic grades of fatty liver with serum Alanine aminotransferase levels in asymptomatic individuals.
 Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
 Place and Duration of Study: OPD, Radiology Department in collaboration with the Department of Pathology, DistrictHeadquarters Hospital, Sargodha Pakistan, from Jan to Oct 2021.
 Methodology: One-thirty-eight asymptomatic individuals with fatty livers were included in the study. Fatty livers were graded as mild, moderate and severe fatty change. Serum ALT was also determined in these individuals.
 Results: Out of 138 cases, moderate 61(44.2%) grade of fatty liver was the commonest grade seen after mild 49(35.5%) and severe 28(20.2%) grades. Abnormal serum ALT was commonest in severe grade 27(96.4%), followed by moderate grade 45(73.7%) and mild grade 10(20.4%). On comparison of means of serum ALT levels in different grades of fatty liver, it was found to have a significant relationship with a grade of the fatty liver (p-value less than 0.001).
 Conclusion: Fatty liver should be graded into three grades rather than reported as fatty liver. Finding the severe and moderate grades of fatty liver should warrant further investigations for NAFLD/NASH, provided that common alternative chronic liver diseases are excluded.