Prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a population with elevated transaminases and level of accuracy of the diagnosis in Primary Care

© 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of elevated transaminases in adults. Aim: Determine the prevalence of NASH in patients with sustained hypertransaminasemia, and Know the adequacy of the registered in Primary Care (AP) diagnosis. Material and methods: 1) Cross-sectional study with a random sample of patients with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) held (ALT> 32 for ≥6 months), ruling out other causes of liver disease, according to clinical, laboratory and ultrasound scan criteria in AP and 2) cross-sectional description of all cases diagnosed with NASH recorded (K76 - ICD10) with diagnostic adequacy analysis according to standard criteria. Results: 290 patients were analyzed: 76 were diagnosed as NASH (26.1%), 44 women (57.9%). Multivariate analysis adjusted for age and sex showed no association between NASH and male gender (OR: 0.5; CI95%: 0.3-0.9), diabetes mellitus (DM) (OR: 2.42; CI95%: 1.2-4.9) and hypertension blood pressure (HBP) (OR: 3.07; CI 95% 1.6-5.6). Of the 209 diagnosed with NASH record: 51 (24.4%) met the criteria for NASH. The rest had insufficient records. Highlights: 53.1% lacked sustained hypertransaminasemia; 48% of viral serology; 11% supported and 53.1% abdominal ultrasound registration of alcohol. Conclusions: Severe NASH is frequent among patients with sustained hypertransaminasemia. The DM and hypertension significantly increase the risk of NASH. The diagnosis of NASH is recorded without considering all criteria and mainly NASH made by ultrasonography. They should unify diagnostic criteria in the register of NASH.