Association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with gallstone disease in the United States hospitalized patient population

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Gallstones and cholecystectomy have been proposed as risk factors for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The reason for this may be that both gallstones, as well as NAFLD share several risk factors with regards to their development. Currently, there is a lack of sufficient evidence showing an association between these clinical conditions. AIM: To determine whether there is a meaningful association between gallstones and cholecystectomy with NAFLD. METHODS: revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes to identify hospitalizations with a diagnosis of gallstone disease (GSD) (includes calculus of gallbladder without cholecystitis without obstruction and acquired absence of gallbladder) as well as NAFLD (includes simple fatty liver and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis). Odds ratios (ORs) measuring the association between GSD (includes gallstones and cholecystectomy) and NAFLD were calculated using logistic regression after adjusting for confounding variables. RESULTS: value was less than 0.001 for all comparisons. CONCLUSION: NAFLD is more prevalent in women with GSD than men. The association between NAFLD and cholecystectomy/gallstones indicates that they may be risk factors for NAFLD.