Clinical Manifestations and Diagnosis of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) is the major cause of hepatocellular carcinoma and increases the risk of mortality. Understanding the trends of its clinical and biochemical changes is essential to identify patients with NAFLD that are at the greatest risk of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis in Iran.

Patients with NAFLD confirmed by ultrasonography were enrolled into the current study. They had negative serologic markers of viral or autoimmune hepatitis, no findings in favor of metabolic liver disease, and had not received medications that affect liver, such as silymarin and Ursobil. Biochemical and clinical symptoms and histological variables were evaluated for each patient. Descriptive statistics were used to compute all variables.

A total of 206 patients, including 109 male and 97 female, with the mean age of 41.2 years were enrolled. The number of patients without obesity and diabetes were 34 (16.4%) and 48 (23.1%), respectively. Sleep disorder, delayed sleep, daytime sleepiness, and late dinner were noticeably common in patients with NAFLD. Furthermore, anxiety, thirst sensation, bloating, warming sensation, defecation disturbances, and upper abdominal pain were common among patients with NAFLD.

NAFLD is a heterogeneous disorder with vast clinical presentations. It seems that anxiety and gastrointestinal problem are common among such patients. Moreover, inadvertent sleep could have a considerable effect on developing NAFLD. Patients with diabetes have more severe NAFLD, based on clinical and histological findings.