FREQUENCY OF HEPATIC STEATOSIS IN A RADIOLOGY CLINIC IN PALMAS

Resumo

Introduction: Recent studies suggest that hepatic steatosis is a worldwide distribution pathology that can progress to chronic liver disease with a highly unfavorable outcome resulting in the need for liver transplantation. That’s why early diagnosis is important. The liver biopsy’s considered a "gold standard" in its diagnosis, but the use of ultrasonography helps to detect steatosis in a non-invasive manner and is a very accessible method for the population. Objectives: To evaluate the frequency of steatosis in patients treated at a radiological clinic in Palmas using abdominal ultrasonography; observing its distribution in genders and age groups and its difference between 2010 and 2016. Methods: It was used ultrasound reports of abdomen of 3.222 patients made in 2010 and of 2.346 patients made in 2016. A longitudinal analysis was performed, between these two years, regarding the frequency of hepatic steatosis at the people and also between the genders and the age groups. Results: In 2010, 25,67% of people had hepatic steatosis in the ultrasound report, while in 2016 were 31,67%. In 2010, of the total number of people with steatosis, 52,48% were women and 47,52% were men; however in 2016, 51,94% were women and 48,06% were men. Regarding the age groups, in both periods, as in men and in women, steatosis was lower at the extremes of age and more frequent around the 5^th to 7^th decades of life. Discussion: The frequency of hepatic steatosis has increased in the period from 2010 to 2016. It was, as seen in the literature, quite high in the 5^th and 6^th decades of life, besides being more frequent in females. Unlike 2010, in 2016 begins to have children under 20 with signs of steatosis. Conclusion: In the year 2010 the frequency of hepatic steatosis was 25,67%, whereas in 2016 it was 31,84%.