Comparison of length of liver among patients with and without fatty change in liver

ObjectiveThe retrospective cross-sectional study was done to assess the change of length of liver across the grades of fatty change, across the ages of individual as well as between the male and female sexes. MethodsThe liver length measurement and qualitative visual grading of fatty change (from grade 0 to grade 3), obtained from patients who underwent ultrasound of liver at our institute between July and October of 2024 was retrospectively retrieved. The age of patient, length of liver and the grading of fatty change was used as the variables for the analyses. ResultsThe mean lengths of liver were found to be significantly increasing with increased grades fatty change (grade 0, grade I and grade II), both in males and females (p < 0.01). Male patients were affected by fatty change in liver (both grades I and II), more in comparison to the females (Pearsons Chi-squared value 4.53, p = 0.033). Being at older age is significantly associated with being affected by fatty change in liver (both grades I and II) in females (p<0.01). Liver with fatty changes (grade I and II combined) were significantly larger than those without fatty change both in males as well as in females (p < 0.01). A weak positive association of length of liver and advancing age was found only among females without fatty change (R 0.29, p = 0.046). ConclusionsFindings from this study is expected to have implications in the clinical and lifestyle management of NAFLD and future research