Introduction: India, diabetes capital of the world has over 50 million people with type 2 DM. Incidence of DM is increasing, so does the complications, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and consequent liver fibrosis. NAFLD, regarded as hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome, affects 40-70% of DM patients and about 7% of these had advanced liver fibrosis on MR Elastography.
Aim: To determine prevalence of liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic diabetics attending our hospital in North India.
Material and Methods: Type 2 DM patients aged between 18-65 years, who attended outdoor clinics were included in this single center prospective observational study. Patients with decompensated chronic liver disease, pregnancy and T1 DM were excluded. All patients underwent ultrasound shear wave elastrography (USG-SWE). Average of serial intercostals space scan values (kilopascals and metavir) was calculated and analyzed.
Results: Of the 64 eligible patients, their mean age was 54 years and male to female ratio was 0.7:1. Normal liver parenchyma was found in 59.37% diabetic patients and 40.6% were found to have different grades of fibrosis.
Conclusion: The prevalence of nonalcoholic liver fibrosis among type 2 DM patients in North Indian population is 40.6%. With this obtained high number, we recommend screening of every diabetic patient with USG-SWE as an early modality to diagnose liver fibrosis.
A. Kakkar: None.
