Key result
Patients with fatty liver disease had a significantly wider average renal sinus fat deposition (12.5 mm) compared to those without steatosis (9.3 mm, p = 0.02).
Why the study?
Abnormal fat deposits are linked to metabolic and vascular diseases, but whether renal sinus fat deposition relates to fatty liver disease had not been investigated.
Is fatty liver disease associated with increased fat deposition of the renal sinus on non-contrast CT in adults?
Cross-Sectional (n=92)
No
Is fatty liver disease associated with increased fat deposition of the renal sinus on non-contrast CT in adults?
Mean Difference: 3.19
Absolute Event Rate: 12.5% vs 9.3%
p-value: p=0.02
Fat deposition of the renal sinus is significantly wider in younger adults with fatty liver disease, suggesting it could serve as an ancillary CT finding for detecting hepatic steatosis.
Fatty liver disease was associated with wider renal sinus fat on CT; hypothesis-generating for ancillary detection, needs prospective validation.
INTRODUCTION: It has been established that abnormal fat deposits are associated with fat deposition in other abdominal regions and linked to obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, vascular and metabolic diseases. This study aimed to determine whether there was a relationship between fat deposition of the renal (i.e., kidney) sinus (FRS) and fatty liver disease (FLD) in a sample of adults. The authors hypothesized that FRS could be a diagnostic finding associated with Hepatosteatosis (HS) in a sample of younger patients. This study was the first apparent investigation of this possible phenomenon. METHODS: A convenience sample of 92 adult patients of which 19 (20.7%) were females and 73 (79.3%) were males, and with a mean age of 30.19 (SD = 6.00) were included. The authors calculated Hounsfield Units (HU) (i.e., relative quantitative measurement of radio density) of patients' livers and spleens on non-contrast computed tomography (CT). Liver and spleen differences < 10 HU were considered steatosis (FLD). The authors stratified sample patients into two analytic subgroups according to the presence of FLD or not and compared them based on their FRS widths. RESULTS: In the FLD subgroup (N = 48), the difference of HU values between liver and spleen was -5.19 (SD = 11.32), with a range of -38 - 8 HU, while, in the non-steatosis subgroup (N = 44), the mean difference was 16.36 (SD = 3.90), range of 11 - 26 HU. The average diameter of FRS width was 12.5 mm in those patients with steatosis (FLD subgroup) although 9.3 mm in non-FLD patients. (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, FRS may be able to be used by radiologists as an ancillary method in the detection of hepatic steatosis in younger adults. The effectiveness of premedical processes (e.g., exercise and diet modification) can also be increased by non-radiologists after detection of lower-grade HS.
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Doğan et al. (2022) conducted a cross-sectional in Fatty liver disease (n=92). Fatty liver disease (hepatic steatosis) vs. Non-steatosis was evaluated on Average diameter of renal sinus fat (FRS) width (MD 3.19 mm, p=0.02). Patients with fatty liver disease had a significantly wider average renal sinus fat deposition (12.5 mm) compared to those without steatosis (9.3 mm, p = 0.02).
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