PREVALENCE OF METABOLIC SYNDROME AMONG PATIENTS WITH NON-ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE

Objective: To determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Study Design: This is a case series of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease diagnosed by ultrasonography at the Metropolitan Medical Center aiming to describe the clinical profile with special emphasis on the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. Patients who strongly denied significant alcoholic intake, intake of hepatotoxic drugs, with no history of chronic liver disease were included in the study. The study was done through a chart review of 109 patients aged 19 years old and above seen over a one year period between August 2004 to August 2005. Results: The mean age of the patients in this series was 47.8±15.6, 70 of whom were males (64.2%) and 39 were females (35.7%). The mean SGPT level was 68.7 ± 56.0 while that of the SGOT was 34.9 ± 15.3. Elevated SGPT was noted in 71/108 (65.7%) of the patients while elevated SGOT was noted in 14/42 (33.3%). There were 18 (40.9%) patients whose serum cholesterol were above the normal range while 71 (69.6%) patients had elevated serum triglyceride. There were 33 (35.5%) patients whose HDL cholesterol were below the normal range. Insulin assay was done in 19 patients included in the series of which insulin resistance was noted in 16 (84.2%) with a mean insulin assay of 14.8 ± 6.4. The mean BMI was 28.3 ± 3.2 kg/m 2 . The mean BMI among the male patients was 28.3 ± 3.3 while among females it was 28.4 ± 3.0, the difference of which was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The classification of the 106 patients included in this series according to the BMI was normal in 6%, overweight in 7% and obese in 87%. Hypertension was present 66.1% while diabetes mellitus was noted in 47.7% of the patients included in this series. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease diagnosed by ultrasonography was noted to be 51% (56/109) in this series.