title: Association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and ischemic stroke.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Some studies in recent years showed that carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), indicator of the presence of atherosclerosis, was higher in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in comparison with normal subjects. They concluded that NAFLD patients may be resulted in more cardiovascular events. Hence, we aimed to study the association of NAFLD and ischemic stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  For this reason, 110 brain magnetic resonance imaging confirmed ischemic stroke patients and 110 patients age and sex matched controls went through liver ultrasound to detect NAFLD and common carotid ultrasound to measure IMT. Demographic and vascular risk factors were detailed for all subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NAFLD was found in 47 (42.7%) of ischemic stroke patients and 25 (22.7%) of controls. By adjusting sex and age in table 2, odds ratio (OR) for NAFLD was 2.15 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-3.71) that was statistically significant (P = 0.006). However, after adjusting for other confounding risk factors (waist circumference, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, low-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine, body mass index, cigarette smoking, and ischemic heart disease), the OR decrease to 1.68 (95% CI: 0.42-6.76) that was not statistically significant (P = 0.460). The OR for IMT of right and left common carotid was 1.23 (95% CI: 0.48-3.15) and 1.24 (95% CI: 0.57-2.69), respectively that none of them were statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the risk of occurrence of ischemic stroke is higher in NAFLD patients, but NAFLD is not associated independently with ischemic stroke.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hanieh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moshayedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ahrabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Afshin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mardani
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Saieed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadigetegad
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Neurosciences Research Center, Student Research Committee, Imam Reza Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farhudi
keywords: Carotid Intima-media Thickness; Ischemic Stroke; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease