Recent publications on Residual Risk

In metabolically healthy individuals, the presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was independently associated with coronary artery calcification, according to this report from the CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS). This population-based Swedish cohort study evaluated data from 1015 subjects aged 50-64 years (51.2% women). NAFLD was defined as computed tomography liver attenuation ?40 Hounsfield Units, excluding other causes of liver fat, and the coronary artery calcification score (CACS) was assessed using the Agatston method. Metabolic status was based on assessments of glucose homeostasis, serum lipids, blood pressure and inflammation. The presence of NAFLD was significantly associated with CACS after adjustment for confounders and metabolic risk factors (odds ratio 1.77, 95% CI 1.07-2.94), with the strongest association observed in subjects with few metabolic risk factors (odds ratio 5.94, 95% CI 2.13-16.6). Surprisingly, however, there was no association between the presence of NAFLD and evidence of carotid plaques or intima-medial thickness, assessed by ultrasound.