The objective of this study was to determine, in an adolescent population, the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the association of NAFLD and cardiovascular risk factors with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. The authors conducted a population-based study among 642 randomly selected adolescents aged 11-13 years in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy, between November 2007 and October 2008. Prevalences of overweight and obesity were 30.5% and 13.5%, respectively. The overall prevalence of NAFLD was 12.5%, increasing to 23.0% in overweight/obese adolescents. In univariate analysis, increased IMT was positively associated with the presence of NAFLD, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic blood pressure (all P's < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.006), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (P = 0.006), alanine aminotransferase (P = 0.007), and C-reactive protein (P = 0.008) and was inversely associated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, NAFLD (P = 0.002), BMI (P = 0.004), waist circumference (P = 0.003), and systolic blood pressure (P = 0.005) retained significant associations. The authors conclude that NAFLD, BMI, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure are independent markers of increased IMT in a random sample of adolescents.

No abstract

Overweight and obese adolescents have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and show signs of early atherosclerosis. In girls, in particular, overweight is sufficient to determine a more severe cardiovascular risk profile.

Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a multisystemic vascular dysplasia inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Approximately 10 % of patients have cerebral vascular malformations, a proportion being cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and fistulae that may lead to potentially devastating consequences in case of rupture. On the other hand, detection and treatment related-risks are not negligible, and immediate. While successful treatment can be undertaken in individual cases, current data do not support the treatment of unruptured AVMs, which also present a low risk of bleeding in HHT patients. Screening for these AVMs is therefore controversial.