Visceral Fat Thickness Predicts Fatty Liver Independently of Waist Circumference in Koreans with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of fatty liver, compare clinical characteristics of patients with and without fatty liver, evaluate the relationship between the severity of fatty liver and visceral fat thickness, and assess the risk factors associated with fatty liver in Korean type 2 diabetes patients. Abdominal ultrasonography was used to assess fatty liver in 945 non-fatty and 952 fatty liver disease type 2 diabetes patients. We measured visceral fat thickness by high resolution ultrasonography and insulin resistance by Kitt. Half of the cohort had a fatty liver. Fatty liver severity had strong positive correlations with visceral fat thickness (r = 0.48,p < 0.01 and r = 0.45, p < 0.01 in male and female), weight(r = 0.38,p < 0.01 and r = 0.43,p < 0.01 in male and female), BMI (r = 0.34,p < 0.01 and r = 0.38,p < 0.01 in male and female), body fat percentage (r = 0.40, p < 0.01 and r = 0.37, p < 0.01 in male and female), waist circumference (r = 0.35,p < 0.01 and r = 0.43, p < 0.01 in male and female), c-peptide (r = 0.34,p < 0.01 and r = 0.37,p < 0.01 in male and female), AST (r = 0.31, p < 0.01 and r = 0.33, p < 0.01 in male and female), and ALT levels ((r = 0.35,p < 0.01 and r = 0.32, p < 0.01 in male and female),). In particular, high visceral fat thickness had the highest odds ratio for developing fatty liver in both sexes [Odds ratio : 3.14 (2.24-4.39), p < 0.01 in male, 2.84 (2.04-3.93), p < 0.01 in female]. In addition a visceral fat thickness of 42.5 and 37.7 mm in men and women, respectively, was chosen as the discriminating value to predict the presence of fatty liver. The severity of fatty liver was positively correlated with visceral fat thickness and insulin resistance in both centrally obese and non-obese male patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, suggesting that hepatic fat accumulation in a diabetic fatty liver may be influenced by visceral fat accumulation regardless of waist circumference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]