Non invasive evaluation of liver fibrosis in paediatric patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis
Angelo Iacobellis, Matilde Marcellini, Angelo Andriulli, Francesco Perri, Gioacchino Leandro, Rita Devito, Valerio Nobili, Angelo Iacobellis, Matilde Marcellini, Angelo Andriulli, Francesco Perri, Gioacchino Leandro, Rita Devito, Valerio Nobili
Abstract
Aim: To identify the independent predictors of hepatic fibrosis in 69 children with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) due to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Methods: All patients with clinically suspected NASH underwent liver biopsy as a confirmatory test. The following clinical and biochemical variables at baseline were examined as likely predictors of fibrosis at histology: age, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), dyastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting glucose, fasting insulin, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistence (HOMA-IR), cholesterol, tryglicerides, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), AST/ALT ratio, gamma glutamil transferase (GT), platelet count, prothrombin time (PT).
Results: At histology 28 (40.6%) patients had no fibrosis and 41 (59.4%) had mild to bridging fibrosis. At multivariate analysis, BMI > 26.3 was the only independent predictor of fibrosis (OR = 5.85, 95% CI = 1.6-21).
Conclusion: BMI helps identify children with NASH who might have fibrotic deposition in the liver.
Source: PubMed