by Scott Harris, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today
July 27, 2017
This article is a collaboration between MedPage Today® and: Medpage Today
“Despite … limitations, our study provides evidence that the pathogenesis of subclinical heart failure may relate to progressive NASH” (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), wrote lead study author Tracey Simon, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues in the journal Obesity.
Compared to non-NASH patients, NASH patients experienced more concentric cardiac remodeling, including increased left atrium size, volume, and left ventricle mass indices. Simon and colleagues noticed no significant differences in ejection fraction between the groups. After adjustment for age, sex, diabetes, hypertension, and BMI, NASH patients retained a stronger association with increased left ventricle mass indexed for height and left atrium size indexed for height and body surface area compared with their non-NASH counterparts.
Furthermore, NASH patients were associated with impaired myocardial relaxation including reduced lateral E0 and septal E0 velocities and reduced mitral inflow velocity, measured by E-wave.
In multivariable analysis, NASH was still associated with reduced lateral and septal E0 velocities, E-wave, and deceleration time.