MAFLD as a predictor of adverse cardiovascular events among CHD patients with LDL-C<1.8 mmol/L.

Background and aims: Patients receiving statin therapy still suffer from adverse cardiovascular events. Metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a newly proposed concept that shares common metabolic risk factors with cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the association between MAFLD and adverse cardiovascular outcomes in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients with LDL-C<1.8 mmol/L.

Methods and results: CHD patients with LDL-C<1.8 mmol/L were divided into MAFLD and non-MAFLD groups. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to control for baseline differences between the two groups. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs). All MAFLD patients were further stratified into two groups with and without advanced liver fibrosis, according to the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index cutoffs, and the associations between advanced liver fibrosis status and cardiovascular outcomes were analyzed. After PSM, 800 MAFLD and 800 non-MAFLD patients with LDL-C<1.8 mmol/L were analyzed. MAFLD patients exhibited a significantly greater cumulative incidence and risk of MACCEs than non-MAFLD patients (9.6 % versus 6.6 %, p < 0.05; HR 1.48, 95 % CI 1.04-2.1, p < 0.05). Among MAFLD patients with LDL-C<1.8 mmol/L, advanced liver fibrosis staged by the FIB-4 index was associated with an elevated risk for MACCEs (HR 2.91, 95 % CI 1.17-7.19, p < 0.05), all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI) and stent thrombosis.

Conclusion: MAFLD was an independent risk factor for adverse cardiovascular outcomes in CHD patients with LDL-C<1.8 mmol/L. Additionally, advanced liver fibrosis predicts increased risks for adverse cardiovascular events among MAFLD patients. These findings suggest that MAFLD and liver fibrosis screening and management contribute to the residual cardiovascular risk of CHD patients.