American College of Radiology LI-RADS in pediatric patients: the good, the bad, and the future

Excerpt

“Children are not little adults” is a phrase often used in pediatric medicine. One area where this sentiment is particularly true is in the evaluation and management of pediatric focal liver lesions. In this issue of Pediatric Radiology, Ludwig et al. [1] reported on their experience with applying the American College of Radiology (ACR) Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) v2017 in pediatric patients. The authors retrospectively evaluated the application of the LI-RADS v2017 criteria to a cohort of pediatric patients with known liver lesions [1]. In light of this paper and ongoing efforts to standardize the imaging evaluation of pediatric hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatoblastoma, I would like to share my thoughts on the potential benefits and drawbacks of using the current version of LI-RADS in the pediatric population and where our efforts as pediatric liver imagers might lead us. …