Background/AimsHypothyroidism is reported to contribute to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We compared the risk of the development of NAFLD among three groups with different thyroid hormonal statuses (control, subclinical hypothyroidism, and overt hypothyroidism) in a 4-year retrospective cohort of Korean subjects.MethodsApparently healthy Korean subjects without NAFLD and aged 20-65 years were recruited (n=18,544) at health checkups performed in 2008. Annual health checkups were applied to the cohort for 4 consecutive years until December 2012. Based on their initial serum-free thyroxine (fT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, they were classified into control, subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH >4.2 mIU/L, normal fT4), and overt hypothyroidism (TSH >4.2 mIU/L, fT4 <0.97 ng/dL) groups. NAFLD was diagnosed on the basis of ultrasonography findings.ResultsNAFLD developed in 2,348 of the 18,544 subjects, representing an overall incidence of 12.7%: 12.8%, 11.0%, 12.7% in the control, subclinical hypothyroidism, and overt hypothyroidism groups, respectively. The incidence of NAFLD did not differ significantly with the baseline thyroid hormonal status, even after multivariate adjustment (subclinical hypothyroidism group: hazard ratio [HR]=0.965, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.814-1.143, P=0.67; overt hypothyroidism group: HR=1.255, 95% CI=0.830-1.899, P=0.28).ConclusionsOur results suggest that the subclinical and overt types of hypothyroidism are not related to an increased incidence of NAFLD.

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The Park system, based on oblique sagittal MRI sections, provides a reliable and reproducible assessment of the severity of cervical neural foraminal stenosis. According to the Park system, grades 2 and 3 are associated with positive neurologic manifestations, and the Park system successfully predicts positive neurologic manifestations at these grades.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the significance of a non-mass lesion (NML) which is recognized during screening breast ultrasound (US). Materials and methods: We included patients with a NML on screening breast US and no suspicious finding on mammography between March 2008 and June 2012. The final diagnoses were based on pathology results and a clinical or sonographic follow-up for more than 12 months. We calculated the incidence, likelihood of malignancy, and positive predictive value (PPV) of biopsy with a review of imaging and histopathological findings. Results: A total of 17868 screening breast US were performed in 8856 asymptomatic patients. Ninety-five NMLs were detected in 88 patients (1.0%). Among the 93 lesions that were followed or confirmed histopathologically, 2 (2.2%) were malignant, 89 (95.6%) were benign, and 2 (2.2%) were high risk lesions. The likelihood of malignancy in a NML on screening breast US was 2.2% and the PPV of biopsy was 6.3% (2 of 32). Conclusion: The likelihood of malignancy for a NML on screening breast US was greater than 2%. It could be classified as a BI-RADS category 4a lesion and tissue diagnosis is warranted. This provides the potential management guidelines for a NML in screening patients and further prospective studies in a large, multicenter screening population are required.