[Research advances in the impact of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease on cardiac structure and function]

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common chronic liver disease in developed and developing countries. NAFLD is considered to be the manifestation of metabolic syndrome in the liver and an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases as well. Studies have shown that NAFLD patients have significantly increased the prevalence rates of the diseases including ischemic heart disease and heart failure. Therefore, whether the changes in cardiac structure and impaired cardiac function occur before the development of organic heart diseases in NAFLD patients has attracted scholars' attention. With reference to the published literature, this article reviews the research advances in the association between NAFLD and cardiac changes in adults, children, and patients with diabetes and hypertension.