May Ultrasonography Diagnosed Hepatic Steatosis be Predictor of Metabolic Syndrome Among Aviators?

Abstract

Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have higher cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates compared with the general population. Because of several periodic examinations, in general, aviators are healthier than general population. We aimed to evaluate whether ultrasonography diagnosed hepatic steatosis (HS) may be a noninvasive predictor of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among aviators. About 32 aviators with NAFLD and 32 healthy aviators were included in the study. Age, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), laboratory parameters (fasting blood glucose [FBG], total cholesterol [TC], low‑density lipoprotein‑cholesterol [LDL‑C], and high‑density lipoprotein‑cholesterol [HDL‑C], very LDL‑C [VLDL‑C], triglyceride [TG]), TC/HDL‑C ratio were obtained from the medical history, physical examination and laboratory result chart of medical recordings. The prevalence of HS was %16.9 (n = 32) in the aviators who were performed abdominal ultrasonography as an annual routine test. BMI (26.1 ± 1.9 vs. 24.0 ± 1.9, P < 0.001), SBP (119.1 ± 11.2 vs. 110.7 ± 7.5, P = 0.001), and DBP (76.6 ± 7.6 vs. 70.1 ± 6.9, P = 0.001), FBG (97.7 ± 9.1 vs. 90.1 ± 13.3, P = 0.010), TC (219.9 ± 42.3 vs. 191.2 ± 30.1, P = 0.003), LDL‑C (140.2 ± 34.3 vs. 117.9 ± 22.2, P = 0.003) and VLDL‑C (32.1 ± 14.5 vs. 23.9 ± 12.5, P = 0.019), TC/HDL‑C ratio (4.5 ± 0.9 vs. 3.9 ± 0.8, P = 0.011) were significantly higher in aviators with HS compared to healthy ones. MetS (≥3 criteria) was significantly higher in aviators with HS compared to healthy ones (53.1% vs. 18.8%, P = 0.004). HS may be a reliable representative of MetS, which can
be non‑invasively screened among aviators. Moreover, HS may be a clinical indicator of MetS among aviators who need further cardiovascular evaluation and also counseling for lifestyle and dietary changes, and exercise activity programing.