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Relationship between abdominal fat stores and liver fat, pancreatic fat, and metabolic comorbidities in a pediatric population with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

  • Hepatobiliary
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Abdominal Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To define the relationship between compartmental abdominal fat stores, liver and pancreatic fat fractions, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods

This was a retrospective study of patients with NAFLD who underwent abdominal MRI between August 2015 and July 2017. Using an axial multi-echo Dixon-based sequence, liver fat fraction (LFF) and pancreatic fat fraction (PFF) were measured. The fat image was used to quantify abdominal fat depots (thickness, cross-sectional area) at the L2 vertebral level. Multivariable models with stepwise selection were created for prediction of LFF, PFF, and T2DM status based upon variables of clinical interest.

Results

86 patients (70% male, 25% Hispanic, 58% Caucasian, 11% African American) with a mean age of 14.2 ± 3.2 years were included. 19 (22%) patients were pre-diabetic or diabetic. Only ethnicity was a predictor of LFF (P = 0.0023) with Hispanic ethnicity associated with the highest LFF. Depending on the model, either total abdominal fat area (P = 0.0003) or patient weight (P = 0.008) were the only predictors of PFF. No patient variable predicted T2DM status.

Conclusions

In our population, there was an association between ethnicity and LFF, with the highest LFF in Hispanics. The presence or severity of hepatic steatosis could not be predicted based on patient size or the distribution of abdominal fat in our cohort. Neither LFF nor PFF were predictive of T2DM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, MLC 5031, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA

    Andrew T. Trout, David E. Hunte & Jonathan R. Dillman

  2. Department of Radiology, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA

    Andrew T. Trout & Jonathan R. Dillman

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, USA

    Andrew T. Trout, Marialena Mouzaki, Stavra A. Xanthakos & Bin Zhang

  4. Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA

    Marialena Mouzaki & Stavra A. Xanthakos

  5. Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, USA

    Weizhe Su

  6. Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA

    Bin Zhang

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Correspondence to Andrew T. Trout.

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Conflict of interest

None relevant to this article. Dr. Trout receives unrelated grant support from Siemens Medical Solutions and Canon Medical Systems for ultrasound research. Dr. Trout also receives royalties for authorship from Reed Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer. Dr. Dillman receives unrelated grant support from Siemens Medical Solutions and Bracco.

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Trout, A.T., Hunte, D.E., Mouzaki, M. et al. Relationship between abdominal fat stores and liver fat, pancreatic fat, and metabolic comorbidities in a pediatric population with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Abdom Radiol 44, 3107–3114 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-019-02123-y

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