Diagnostic value of CT liver-to-spleen attenuation ratio in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and atherosclerotic plaque

  • Dong Han
  • Chongan He
  • Shuang Gu
  • Dongxuan Zhang
  • Liyun Xu Beijing Changping Hospital of Chinese Medicine
Keywords: Liver/spleen CT values, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Arteriosclerosis plaque, CT Liver-to-spleen attenuation ratio

Abstract

Objective: To explore the clinical value of computed tomography (CT) liver-to-spleen (L/S) attenuation ratio in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) accompanied by atherosclerotic plaque (AP).

Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective, observational study of patients who were diagnosed with NAFLD undergoing CT scans at Beijing Changping Hospital of Chinese Medicine from April 2020 to April 2022. Patients were grouped according to whether they had a diagnosis of AP or not. Healthy individuals without NAFLD undergoing CT scans during the same period were also included as a control group. The patients were matched for gender, age, and BMI in a 1:1:1 ratio. Correlations between the CT L/S attenuation ratio, liver function indicators, and blood lipid levels were assessed in the three groups. The predictive value of the CT L/S attenuation ratio was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC) analyses.

Results: Eighty-nine cases in each group. The three groups had significant differences in liver function and blood lipid levels (P<0.05). The CT L/S attenuation ratio in the NAFLD+AP and NAFLD groups was lower than that in the control group and was the lowest in the NAFLD+AP group (P<0.05). There was no significant correlation between the CT L/S attenuation ratio and liver function indicators (P>0.05), but it positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and negatively correlated with low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC) (P<0.05). The CT L/S attenuation ratio had a high predictive value for NAFLD patients with AP (AUC=0.859).

Conclusions: The CT L/S attenuation ratio in NAFLD patients with AP is significantly reduced and is closely related to the levels of blood lipid indicators. The CT L/S attenuation ratio has a high predictive value for NAFLD patients with AP.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.10578

How to cite this: Han D, He C, Gu S, Zhang D, Xu L. Diagnostic value of CT liver-to-spleen attenuation ratio in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and atherosclerotic plaque. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(10):2416-2421. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.10578

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published
2024-10-19
How to Cite
Han, D., He, C., Gu, S., Zhang, D., & Xu, L. (2024). Diagnostic value of CT liver-to-spleen attenuation ratio in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and atherosclerotic plaque. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 40(10), 2416-2421. https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.10.10578
Section
Original Articles