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Erschienen in:
11.08.2023 | Original Article
Prevalence of incidental sonographic findings of hepatic steatosis in children under 4 years of age
Erschienen in: Pediatric Radiology | Ausgabe 11/2023
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Background
The age of onset of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its prevalence in young children is incompletely understood.
Objective
We sought to evaluate the prevalence of ultrasound findings of hepatic steatosis in a cohort of children less than 4 years of age.
Materials and methods
This is an institutional review board–approved retrospective review of ultrasounds performed on children less than 4 years of age from January 2022 to August 2022 at a single quaternary care center. Two independent blinded reviewers evaluated for qualitative and semi-quantitative findings of hepatic steatosis. Per prior literature, hepatorenal index (HRI)>1.75 was used as a threshold suggestive of hepatic steatosis. Chi-square, Mann–Whitney U test, and logistic regression analyses were performed for univariable and multivariable statistical analyses. Kappa statistics were used to assess agreement between reviewers.
Results
Eighty-five males and 102 females, median age of 1.1 years (interquartile range 2.1 years), were included. Qualitative findings of hepatic steatosis were seen in 26/187 (14%; 95% CI 10–20%). An HRI>1.75 was present in 15/187 (8%; 95% CI: 5–13%) of examinations, including 11 females and 4 males, and 7/123 (6%) participants <2 years old. Among participants with overweight or obesity, 8/43 (19%) had HRI>1.75 vs. 7/144 (5%) participants without overweight or obesity (P=0.004). Each percentile increase in anthropometrics percentile (weight-to-length or BMI, depending on age) was associated with 22 increased odds of HRI>1.75 (P=0.02).
Conclusion
Prevalence of sonographic findings of hepatic steatosis in an unselected sample of preschool-age children is 8–14%, and are more common in participants with overweight/obesity.
Graphical Abstract
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