Background
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is highly prevalent in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Yet, the impact of NAFLD on outcomes, along with the contribution of nonmetabolic factors to NAFLD development, is unclear. To investigate these topics, we conducted a nationwide study examining the impact of NAFLD on hospitalization outcomes in IBD patients after adjusting for metabolic factors.
Methods
Patients with IBD-related hospitalizations were identified using the Nationwide Readmissions Database from 2016 to 2018. Inflammatory bowel disease patients with and without NAFLD were matched based on IBD type, age, sex, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes mellitus. Primary outcomes were IBD-related readmission, IBD-related surgery, and death. Secondary outcomes were length of stay (LOS) and cost of care (COC). The primary multivariable model adjusted for obesity, dyslipidemia, Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index, hospital characteristics, payer, patient income, and elective status of admissions.
Results
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was associated with a higher risk of IBD-related readmission (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.90; P < .01) and death (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.73; P < .01), 0.71-day longer LOS (P < .01), and $7312 higher COC (P < .01) in those with Crohn’s disease. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was also associated with a higher risk of IBD-related readmission (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.65; P < .01), 0.64-day longer LOS (P < .01), and $9392 (P < .01) higher COC, but there was no difference in death in those with UC. No differences in risk of IBD-related surgery were observed.
Conclusions
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with worse hospitalization outcomes in IBD patients after adjusting for metabolic factors. These data suggest nonmetabolic factors may be implicated in the pathogenesis of NAFLD in IBD patients and may contribute to worsened clinical outcomes.
Background: The utility of noninvasive tests (NITs) for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is limited by indeterminate results and modest predictive values (PVs). Algorithms of sequential NITs may overcome these shortcomings. Thus, we sought to systematically review the accuracy of sequential algorithms for assessing advanced fibrosis in NAFLD.Methods: A systematic review was performed following guidelines in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Metaanalyses (PRISMA) statement. A literature search of PubMed and Embase was performed in July of 2020 to identify studies that evaluated diagnostic characteristics of sequential NIT algorithms in NAFLD.Results: Among 8 studies meeting inclusion criteria, 48 algorithms were studied in 6741 patients. The average sensitivity, specificity, positive PV, negative PV, and proportion of indeterminate values for included algorithms were 72%, 92%, 88%, 82%, and 25%, respectively. Six algorithms achieved sensitivities in the top quartile ( ≥ 86.3%) with < 25% indeterminate values. Four algorithms achieved specificities in the top quartile ( ≥ 98.7%) with < 25% indeterminate values. The aforementioned algorithms included combinations of Fibrosis-4, NAFLD fibrosis score, and vibrationcontrolled transient elastography.Conclusions: Sequential NIT algorithms may reduce indeterminate results while achieving sensitivities comparable to single NITs. Sequential algorithms may also augment the specificities of single NITs, though resulting positive PVs may not be high enough to obviate the need for liver biopsy. Available evidence supports the use of Fibrosis-4, NAFLD fibrosis score, and vibration-controlled transient elastography within sequential algorithms to achieve diagnostic accuracy for advanced fibrosis in NAFLD.
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