Application of the Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index in the Diagnosis of Hepatic Steatosis and Liver Fibrosis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Visceral fat exerts a significant impact on the histopathology of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Hence, we evaluated the application of the Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index (CVAI), a novel visceral fat marker, in predicting and diagnosing hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis. Methods: After excluding individuals with liver disease or significant alcohol consumption, a total of 273 patients (57.9% males) aged over 18 were eligible for this cross-sectional study. Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index was calculated by age, Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Hepatic steatosis and fibrosis were measured by elastography. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: After adjusting for age, gender, metabolic diseases, and visceral obesity indices, each unit increase in CVAI elevated the odds of hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis by 3.3% (P = 0.002) and 2.9% (P = 0.001), respectively. According to the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the grades of liver steatosis had a great impact on CVAI (P < 0.001), and CVAI well-discriminated grades of liver steatosis. Furthermore, the stages of liver fibrosis greatly impacted CVAI (P < 0.001), but it cannot distinguish the stages of liver fibrosis. The Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUROC) for S ≥ S1 was 0.800 (0.747 to 0.846), and for F ≥ F2 was 0.810 (0.759 to 0.855). Conclusions: We concluded that CVAI is a strong predictor and accurate diagnostic factor for liver steatosis and significant fibrosis; thus, it could be a tool for screening individuals at risk of liver steatosis and the irreversible complications of fibrosis.