Predictive Value of Speckle Tracking Echocardiography to Detect Subclinical Cardiovascular Changes among Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Background and study aim: Considering the established correlation between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and cardiac abnormalities ,To assess the relationship between fibroscan-proven NAFLD and subclinical cardiovascular changes utilizing speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE).Patients and Methods: We recruited 50 patients from AL-Rajhy Hospital's Outpatient Clinic (internal medicine). Patients were diagnosed with NAFLD via abdominal ultrasound and confirmed by FibroScan. Demographic data, laboratory investigations, and anthropometric measurements were collected for all participants. Conventional echocardiography and STE were performed to assess cardiac function. CHA2DS2-VASc and ASCVD risk scores were calculated for all patients.Results: A marked negative correlation coefficient was observed between both fibrosis and steatosis scores with STE parameters TAPSE and GLS (RV and LV). Also, it was found that both steatosis and fibrosis scores increased significantly with an increase in CHADSVASC and ASCVD scores.Conclusion: NAFLD, even in asymptomatic adults, may serve as an independent subclinical cardiovascular dysfunction risk factor, regardless of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. STE emerges as a sensitive and critical tool for detecting early subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.