Noninvasive diagnostic method of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children
The aim: Improving the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children with obesity. Materials and methods: 40 children aged from 8 to 17 years with exogenous constitutional obesity (BMI from 22.84 to 45.00) were examined. Evaluated clinical and anamnestic data, biochemical blood tests, incl. ALT and AST, ultrasound examination of the hepatobiliary system, FibroMax test, polypathography (PGG). Viral hepatitis B and C are excluded in all children. Compared 2 groups of children. The first group included 16 children diagnosed with NAFLD according to the FibroMax test. The second control group consisted of 24 children without NAFLD. The comparison was carried out on all the signs stipulated by the study protocol. Wе used the contingency table analysis method and discriminant analysis. Statistical analysis of the results was performed using software and the Statistica 10.0 for Windows package. Results: A new method for the diagnosis of NAFLD in obese children has been developed. The method uses the following available parameters: BMI, duration of obesity, ultrasound data (increased liver echogenicity and depletion of the vascular pattern), polyhepathography data (organic changes on the SGBP and impaired hemodynamics due to venous influx), followed by calculating the discriminant function using the calculated formula. The percentage of correct diagnosis when using this method is 97.4%, sensitivity = 0.9545 (95.45%), specificity = 1.00 (100%).