Objective:

To determine the frequency of non-alcoholic fatty liver in individuals with not known history of liver disease, who died instantly in a traffic accident.

Materials and Methods:

It was a prospective and cross-sectional study of a series of autopsy cases, with a convenience sample obtained from the forensic medical service in the municipality of Boca del Río, Mexico, during the period from January to December 2016. The variables studied included age, sex, weight, height, abdominal circumference, thickness of the adipose panicle, cause of death and findings of liver biopsy.

Results:

A 78.1% of the 32 cases studied were men. The average age was 48 years old (range 20-80 years old). The body mass index range was 17-33. 34% of the cases had fatty liver. 27.3% of cases with fatty liver had a normal body mass index.

Conclusions:

This postmortem study showed a higher frequency of asymptomatic hepatic steatosis than previously reported in the Mexican population. It is necessary to establish timely national measures to detect and to prevent complications of this disease.