Weight loss surgery can help lower risk of fatty liver disease
A first of its kind study found that weight loss surgery significantly lowers the risk of major adverse liver outcomes as well as major acute cardiovascular events (MACE) in NASH patients compared with similar patients who didn’t have surgery. The study, published in JAMA late this month, showed that in patients with obesity and NASH, substantial and sustained weight loss achieved with bariatric surgery can simultaneously protect the heart and decrease the risk of progression to end-stage liver disease.
“This is the first study in the medical field on treatment modality that is associated with decreased risk of major adverse events in patients with biopsy-proven NASH,” said the senior author of the study Steven Nissen, MD, of the Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, said in a statement from the hospital. The research, titled as Surgical Procedures and Long-Term Effectiveness in NASH Disease and Obesity Risk (SPLENDOR), had included 1158 patients with biopsy-proven NASH without cirrhosis. Out of this, 650 underwent bariatric surgery and the remaining 508 served as controls. Participants were a median age of 49.8 years and had a median body mass index (BMI) of 44.1 kg/m2.