Cited by 375Bariatric Surgery and OutcomesLiver Disease Diagnosis and TreatmentOrgan Transplantation Techniques and Outcomes

Association of Bariatric Surgery with Major Adverse Liver and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Biopsy-Proven Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

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Aminian, Ali, Al-Kurd, Abbas, Wilson, Rickesha, Bena, James, Fayazzadeh, Hana, Singh, Tavankit, Albaugh, Vance L., Shariff, Faiz U. +8 more·2021·JAMA

Abstract

IMPORTANCE: No therapy has been shown to reduce the risk of serious adverse outcomes in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). OBJECTIVE: To investigate the long-term relationship between bariatric surgery and incident major adverse liver outcomes and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with obesity and biopsy-proven fibrotic NASH without cirrhosis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In the SPLENDOR (Surgical Procedures and Long-term Effectiveness in NASH Disease and Obesity Risk) study, of 25 828 liver biopsies performed at a US health system between 2004 and 2016, 1158 adult patients with obesity were identified who fulfilled enrollment criteria, including confirmed histological diagnosis of NASH and presence of liver fibrosis (histological stages 1-3). Baseline clinical characteristics, histological disease activity, and fibrosis stage of patients who underwent simultaneous liver biopsy at the time of bariatric surgery were balanced with a nonsurgical control group using overlap weighting methods. Follow-up ended in March 2021. EXPOSURES: Bariatric surgery (Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy) vs nonsurgical care. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcomes were the incidence of major adverse liver outcomes (progression to clinical or histological cirrhosis, development of hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation, or liver-related mortality) and MACE (a composite of coronary artery events, cerebrovascular events, heart failure, or cardiovascular death), estimated using the Firth penalized method in a multivariable-adjusted Cox regression analysis framework. RESULTS: A total of 1158 patients (740 [63.9%] women; median age, 49.8 years [IQR, 40.9-57.9 years], median body mass index, 44.1 [IQR, 39.4-51.4]), including 650 patients who underwent bariatric surgery and 508 patients in the nonsurgical control group, with a median follow-up of 7 years (IQR, 4-10 years) were analyzed. Distribution of baseline covariates, including histological severity of liver injury, was well-balanced after overlap weighting. At the end of the study period in the unweighted data set, 5 patients in the bariatric surgery group and 40 patients in the nonsurgical control group experienced major adverse liver outcomes, and 39 patients in the bariatric surgery group and 60 patients in the nonsurgical group experienced MACE. Among the patients analyzed with overlap weighting methods, the cumulative incidence of major adverse liver outcomes at 10 years was 2.3% (95% CI, 0%-4.6%) in the bariatric surgery group and 9.6% (95% CI, 6.1%-12.9%) in the nonsurgical group (adjusted absolute risk difference, 12.4% [95% CI, 5.7%-19.7%]; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.12 [95% CI, 0.02-0.63]; P = .01). The cumulative incidence of MACE at 10 years was 8.5% (95% CI, 5.5%-11.4%) in the bariatric surgery group and 15.7% (95% CI, 11.3%-19.8%) in the nonsurgical group (adjusted absolute risk difference, 13.9% [95% CI, 5.9%-21.9%]; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.30 [95% CI, 0.12-0.72]; P = .007). Within the first year after bariatric surgery, 4 patients (0.6%) died from surgical complications, including gastrointestinal leak (n = 2) and respiratory failure (n = 2). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among patients with NASH and obesity, bariatric surgery, compared with nonsurgical management, was associated with a significantly lower risk of incident major adverse liver outcomes and MACE.

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Authors
Aminian, A., Al-Kurd, A., Wilson, R., Bena, J., Fayazzadeh, H., Singh, T., Albaugh, V. L., Shariff, F. U., Rodriguez, N. A., Jin, J., Brethauer, S. A., Dasarathy, S., Alkhouri, N., Schauer, P. R., McCullough, A. J., & Nissen, S. E.
Affiliations
  • Cleveland Clinic (US)
  • Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, Department of General Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
  • Pennington Biomedical Research Center (US)
Corresponding author
Nissen, Steven E.
Venue
JAMA
Published
2021-11-23
Volume
326
Issue
20
Pages
2031
ISSN
  • 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
  • 0098-7484
OpenAlex
W3214171772
Cited by
375
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 66 · 2025: 87 · 2024: 81 · 2023: 77 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 2
FWCI
51.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • JAMA (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U01DK061732)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Bariatric Surgery and Outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Organ Transplantation Techniques and Outcomes
Keywords
bariatric surgery, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, obesity, liver fibrosis, major adverse liver outcomes, major adverse cardiovascular events, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, cirrhosis progression, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation, cardiovascular mortality, liver-related mortality, long-term outcomes, overlap weighting
MeSH terms
Adult, Biopsy, Body Weight, Cardiovascular Diseases, Female, Carcinoma, Hepatocellular, Humans, Liver, Liver Cirrhosis, Liver Neoplasms, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Retrospective Studies, Incidence, Bariatric Surgery, Kaplan-Meier Estimate, Propensity Score, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

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