Association of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis with subclinical myocardial dysfunction in non-cirrhotic patients

[Display omitted] •Patients with NAFLD had alterations in cardiac remodeling.•Hepatic steatosis and fibrosis are associated with diastolic heart dysfunction.•Those without NAFLD were more likely to have higher myocardial glucose uptake.•Hepatic fibrosis was correlated with decreased myocardial glucose uptake. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Among categories of NAFLD, hepatic fibrosis is most likely to affect mortality. Myocardial function and its energy metabolism are tightly linked, which might be altered by an insulin resistant condition such as NAFLD. We investigated whether hepatic steatosis and fibrosis were associated with myocardial dysfunction relative to myocardial glucose uptake. A total of 308 patients (190 without NAFLD, 118 with NAFLD) were studied in a tertiary care hospital. Myocardial glucose uptake was evaluated at fasted state using [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (18FDG-PET). Hepatic steatosis and fibrosis were assessed by transient liver elastography (Fibroscan®) with controlled attenuation parameter, which quantifies hepatic fat and by surrogate indices (fatty liver index and NAFLD fibrosis score). Cardiac structure and function were examined by echocardiogram. Compared to those without NAFLD, patients with NAFLD had alterations in cardiac remodeling, manifested by increased left ventricular mass index, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, and left atrial volume index (all p