Ultrasonographic Features Associated with Diffuse Hepatosteatosis among Diabetic Obese and Normal Body Mass Index Patients

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study is to evaluate and compare the changes associated with hepatosteatosis in diabetic obese versus diabetic normal-weight patients through ultrasonography. It is estimated that with the prevalence of about 30%–75% of obese individuals accordingto the body mass index (BMI) criteria are at increase risk of developing simple fatty live. Besides obesity, diabetes mellitus is also considered to be one of the important causes of hepatosteatosis. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted in February 2015–December 2015 on a group of 181 diabetic patients, including 65 males and 116 females with an age range of 40–80 years. The patients were divided into two diabetic groups: those having a BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) were included in the obese group (n = 116) and those with a BMI of 18.5–25 kg/m(2) were included in the normal BMI group (n = 65). Ultrasound machine Esaote MyLab 50 equipped with a 3.5–5 MHz curvilinear multifrequency transducer was used to scan the liver. Independent samples t-test was performed to compare the liver span in the two groups. Chi-square tests were applied to compare the frequencies of fatty changes, border, and surface characteristics. RESULTS: The presence of fatty changes among obese groups was statistically significant in the diabetic obese group compared to the normal-weight individuals with P < 0.0001. Similarly, hepatic spans were found to be significantly greater in the diabetic obese group than the diabetic normal BMI group on independent samples t-test with P < 0.0001. Females were seen to develop hepatosteatosis more frequently compared to males in all diabetic individuals with P = 0.02. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that diabetic obese patients are more prone to develop hepatosteatosis as compared to normal BMI diabetic individuals.