Diagnostic markers of hepatic steatosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis C

Abstract

Objective was to conduct a comparative analysis of routine clinical and laboratory parameters in two groups of patients with chronic viral hepatitis C (CHC) depending on the presence or absence of hepatic steatosis.Methods and materials. The observational retrospective cross-sectional study included 411 patients with CHC, of which 43.80 % were those with hepatic steatosis. The studied parameters were routine clinical and laboratory parameters, the viral genotype, as well as formalized results of a liver biopsy and ultrasound examination of the abdominal organs. To assess the differences between the two groups, the following were calculated: Pearson’s test, two-tailed Fisher’s test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, Spearman’s correlation coefficient, and partial correlation coefficient.Results. It was found that CHC patients with hepatic steatosis were older and had a higher body mass index (BMI) than patients without hepatic steatosis (p<0.01). Among patients with hepatic steatosis, the 3a genotype of the virus (p<0.001) and advanced stages of liver fibrosis (p<0.01) were more often detected, higher concentrations of hepatic transaminase (p£0.001) and iron (p<0 .01) in blood serum were observed, as well as higher liver (p<0.001) and pancreas (p<0.001) sizes on ultrasound than among patients without hepatic steatosis.Conclusion. Age, BMI, viral genotype, stage of liver fibrosis, ALT, AST, GGT, and iron levels, as well as liver and pancreas size are potential predictors of the presence of hepatic steatosis in CHC patients.