In the new study, investigators identified 109 morbidly obese patients with biopsy-confirmed NASH from a cohort of patients who underwent bariatric surgery between 1994 and 2013 in France. Before surgery, the average BMI was 49.3. Roughly 64 percent of patients underwent gastric bypass surgery and 29 percent had gastric band surgery.
Here are six key facts:
1. Guillaume Lassailly, MD, from the Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille in France, presented the study at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases’ Liver Meeting in 2014.
2. In the study, researchers found that of the roughly 80 morbidly obese patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis who underwent bariatric surgery, 85 percent of them no longer had the disease one year after surgery.
3. Morbidly obese patients are at an increased risk for developing NASH, the most severe form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
4. According to the 1991 National Institutes of Health consensus conference on gastrointestinal surgery for severe obesity, patients with a BMI of more than 40 or a BMI of more than 35 with comorbidities, such as diabetes or hypertension, are candidates for bariatric surgery.
5 Of this group, 82 patients underwent a second biopsy one year after surgery.
6. One year after surgery, NASH was undetectable in 85 percent of the 82 patients, and they also had significant improvements in the histologic features of fatty liver disease, including and 84.2 percent reduction in ballooning necrosis and a 67.1 percent reduction in lobular inflammation. Fibrosis scores also improved, and the probability of NASH disappearance was higher in patients with mild NASH than severe NASH.
More articles on healthcare:
Can bariatric surgery lead to suicide? 5 key points
Spectrum Medical Group in Maine closes pain management, rehab practice: 5 key notes
BMI Surgery offers non-surgical weight loss procedure — 4 key facts
