Mantovani A, Csermely A, Petracca G, et al. - Findings suggest a correlation of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with an elevated long-term risk of fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. More advanced liver disease, especially with higher fibrosis stage further increased the CVD risk. Evidence thereby supports an independent value of NAFLD as risk factor for CVD morbidity and mortality.

• Performing a search in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, 36 longitudinal studies were identified for inclusion.

• The studies incorporated data on 5,802,226 middle-aged individuals (mean age 53 years [SD 7]) and 99,668 incident cases of fatal and non-fatal CVD events over a median follow-up of 6·5 years.

• A moderately increased risk of fatal or non-fatal CVD events was recorded in correlation with NAFLD.

• There was a marked increase in this risk across the severity of NAFLD, especially the stage of fibrosis.