Correlation of Hepatic Steatosis Among Cohabitants Using Hounsfield Unit From Coronary Computed Tomography

Background Individuals living in the same household are exposed to common risk factors. We hypothesized that living with someone who has fatty liver disease increases the risk of having the same disease. Methods This was a retrospective study that included pairs of men and women who shared the same residential addresses, underwent screening non-contrast computed tomography for coronary calcium scoring and had Hounsfield Unit density for liver and spleen in the field of view available for measurement. The primary goal was to determine the association between hepatic steatosis and living in the same household. Secondary end-points compared to body mass index, triglyceride levels, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension. Results Out of 1,362 cohabitant pairs, there were 202 couples with either the male or female having hepatic steatosis and 10 cohabitant pairs with both the male and female having hepatic steatosis. In 1,150 cohabitant pairs out of 1,362, neither man nor woman had hepatic steatosis. Pearson correlation coefficient (r) for hepatic steatosis between cohabitant pairs was 0.122 (p-value: < 0.001), suggesting that no correlation was found. Elevated triglyceride levels were prevalent among cohabitant pairs with hepatic steatosis, when compared to pairs without hepatic steatosis (p-value < 0.05). Female gender and having a diagnosis of hepatic steatosis also showed a strong association with higher body mass index, T2DM and hypertension (p-value < 0.05). Conclusion Despite the assumption of exposure to similar environmental factors, our results did not show any correlation of hepatic steatosis among the cohabitants.