MASLD and Cardiovascular Disease: Epidemiology, Risk Stratification, Outcomes and Population Health Implications VOL II

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has emerged as one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide, affecting approximately one-third of adults and contributing substantially to the global burden of cardiometabolic illness. Accumulating evidence indicates that individuals with MASLD experience a disproportionately high risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, with cardiovascular disease (CVD) representing the leading cause of death in this population. Recent epidemiological studies indicate complex associations between MASLD and a broad spectrum of cardiovascular outcomes, most notably coronary artery disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke, and overall cardiovascular mortality. However, important questions remain regarding the magnitude and heterogeneity of these risks across populations, the extent to which MASLD independently contributes to adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and the mechanisms through which cardiometabolic risk is mediated. Furthermore, substantial gaps persist in risk stratification, prediction modelling, and the identification of high-risk subgroups that may benefit from targeted preventive interventions.Advances in large-scale cohort studies, electronic health records, biobanks, genomic resources, and causal inference methodologies now provide unprecedented opportunities to better characterize the population-level impact of MASLD on cardiovascular health. These approaches can help disentangle causal relationships, quantify attributable risk, identify vulnerable populations, and inform evidence-based prevention strategies. Simply considering the absolute numbers, even a minor appearing intervention in terms of diagnosis/ treatment is likely to have huge overall implications; which is precisely why we intend to bring forth this collection.This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease in individuals with MASLD through rigorous population-based investigations. We seek contributions that examine disease burden, determinants, risk prediction, causal pathways, health disparities, and clinical outcomes using robust epidemiological methods.The collection will bring together evidence from observational studies, longitudinal cohorts, electronic health record databases, biobanks, narrative reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and methodological investigations to improve cardiovascular risk assessment and prevention among individuals with MASLD.We welcome original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, methodological papers, and perspectives addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:1. Epidemiology and Population Burden of MASLD-Associated Cardiovascular Disease• Global, regional, and temporal trends in MASLD-related cardiovascular disease• Incidence, prevalence, and attributable risk of cardiovascular outcomes among individuals with MASLD• Population-based cohort studies and registry analyses• Geographic, ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic disparities in cardiovascular risk2. Determinants of Cardiovascular Risk in MASLD• Traditional and emerging cardiovascular risk factors• Interaction of MASLD with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and metabolic syndrome• Sex-specific, age-specific, and ethnicity-specific risk profiles• Social determinants of health and environmental influences3. Longitudinal Outcomes and Prognosis• Major adverse cardiovascular events and cardiovascular mortality• Coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, and cerebrovascular outcomes• Disease progression and trajectory analyses• Competing-risk analyses and survival modelling in longitudinal cohorts4. Causal Inference and Advanced Epidemiological Methodology• Mendelian randomization studies investigating causal relationships between MASLD and cardiovascular outcomes• Causal mediation analyses exploring pathways linking MASLD to cardiovascular risk• Target trial emulation and quasi-experimental approaches• Advanced methods for confounding adjustment, risk estimation, and causal inference5. Cardiovascular Risk Prediction and Stratification• Development and validation of cardiovascular risk prediction models in MASLD• Integration of clinical, imaging, genomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and biomarker data• External validation and calibration across populations• Precision prevention and individualized risk assessment6. Pharmacoepidemiology and Prevention• Cardiovascular outcomes associated with therapies used in MASLD and related metabolic disorders• Comparative effectiveness and safety studies• Impact of pharmacotherapy (including GLP-1 analogues) on clinical outcomes • Real-world evidence from observational databases and registries• Population-level impact of preventive interventions and screening strategies7. Health Services, Screening, and Implementation Research• Screening strategies for cardiovascular risk among individuals with MASLD• Healthcare utilization, access, and quality-of-care studies• Integrated care pathways and multidisciplinary models of care• Public health and policy implications8. Special Populations and High-Risk Cohorts• Pediatric and adolescent MASLD cohorts and life-course cardiovascular risk• Older adults and age-related cardiovascular outcomes• Chronic kidney disease populations and multimorbidity frameworks• Underrepresented and vulnerable populations9. Data Science and Emerging Epidemiological Approaches• Electronic health record-based phenotyping of MASLD and cardiovascular outcomes• Large-scale biobank and registry studies• Machine learning for population-level risk prediction• Automated causal inference and mediation-analysis pipelines• Big-data approaches to competing-risk and longitudinal outcome modellingBy focusing on disease burden, determinants, causal relationships, and risk stratification, this Research Topic seeks to advance understanding of MASLD as an important contributor to cardiovascular disease at the population level. The collection aims to generate evidence that informs prevention strategies, improves cardiovascular risk assessment, supports equitable healthcare delivery, and ultimately reduces the growing global burden of MASLD-associated cardiovascular disease Topic editors: Akash Batta, Akshyaya Pradhan, MANJEET Kumar GOYAL, Kunal Mahajan Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82024/masld-and-cardiovascular-disease-epidemiology-risk-stratification-outcomes-and-population-health-implications-vol-ii