title: Non invasive evaluation of liver fibrosis in paediatric patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BMI helps identify children with NASH who might have fibrotic deposition in the liver.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Hospital Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, IRCCS, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iacobellis
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marcellini
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andriulli
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perri
authors.forename: Gioacchino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leandro
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Devito
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nobili
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001706:Biopsy; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D018450:Disease Progression; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D005947:Glucose