Frequency of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis on Histopathology in Patients of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Duration of More than 5 Years.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) on histopathology in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with duration of more than 5 years.

STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional study.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Department of Medicine, Dow Medical College, Civil Hospital, Karachi, from November 2013 to April 2014.

METHODOLOGY: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus of more than 5 years duration having raised alanine transaminases level and fatty liver on ultrasonography were selected. Informed consent was obtained and liver biopsy was performed in all patients by experienced physician of Civil Hospital Karachi. All samples of biopsy were sent for histopathology. Those patients with hepatitis B, C and D and steatosis like alcoholic and hypertriglyceridemia were excluded from the study. Descriptive statistics were calculated on SPSS version 17.

RESULTS: Out of the 262 cases, 56.49% (148/262) showed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis on the basis of histopathology. The mean age of the patients was 50.72 ±8.48 years. Median (interquartile) duration of diabetes mellitus of the cases was 9 years (15 - 4). Out of 148 NASH cases, 56.1% (83/148) were males and 43.9% (65/148) were females.

CONCLUSION: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis is an increasingly important and unrecognised spectrum of chronic liver disease associated with high prevalence of diabetes that is often overlooked and diagnosed with complications. So early recognition of these patients can prevent further complications.