ArticleSleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung2026
Assessing metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a cross-sectional study.
Article in Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
objectivesTo assess the prevalence and severity of metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) initiating continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy.
methodsIn this cross-sectional study, 72 patients with polysomnography-confirmed OSA (as per American Academy of Sleep Medicine criteria) presenting to the Al-Ain Sleep Clinic were prospectively enrolled. All participants underwent MASLD assessment via vibration-controlled transient elastography (FibroScan) to quantify hepatic steatosis (Controlled Attenuation Parameter, CAP) scores and liver fibrosis (Liver Stiffness Measurement, LSM). MASLD was defined as CAP ≥ 238 dB/m, advanced steatosis as CAP ≥ 290 dB/m while fibrosis was identified if LSM ≥ 7.5 kPa, and advanced fibrosis if LSM ≥ 14 kPa.
resultsThe cohort was predominantly male (83.3%) with mean BMI 33.33 ± 6.83 kg/m² and mean apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 38.2 ± 21.4 events/hour. MASLD prevalence was 79.2% (57/72; 95% CI: 68.5–87.4%), with advanced steatosis (S3) present in 45.8% (33/72; 95% CI: 34.5–57.4%). Significant fibrosis (≥ F2) was detected in 20.8% (15/72; 95% CI: 12.4–31.7%) with F2 in 16.7% and F3 in 4.2% of patients. In the CPAP subgroup (n = 16, 22.2%), MASLD prevalence (75.0%) did not differ significantly from CPAP-naïve patients (80.4%, p = 0.65), though this analysis had limitations due to sample size, cross-sectional study design and lack of adherence data. Limitations include the cross-sectional design precluding causal inference, recruitment from a specialized sleep clinic introducing potential selection bias, and a predominantly male cohort (83.3%) limiting generalizability to female OSA patients.
conclusionsMASLD prevalence in OSA patients substantially exceeds general population estimates, with 20.8% having significant fibrosis, underscoring the need to integrate non-invasive liver assessment into routine OSA management.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.