title: Relationships Between Alanine Aminotransferase, Serum Triglycerides, Body Mass Index and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in an Outpatient Pediatric Clinic Population.
abstract: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent chronic liver disease in children and adolescents. The goal of this study was to describe the demographic, anthropometric and biochemical data of children and adolescents diagnosed with NAFLD during a seven-year period in an outpatient pediatric clinic in the Southwest region of the US and to evaluate relationships between race, BMI, ALT, triglyceride levels, age and gender with a diagnosis of NAFLD. A retrospective medical record review of patients who attended an outpatient pediatric clinic with a billing diagnosis ICD-9 code of 571.8 was conducted. Forty-one patients met these criteria. The majority was male (74%) Hispanic (32%), Hispanic/Latino (68%) and obese. The small number of patients diagnosed with NAFLD in our study is consistent with previously reported results. Our results indicate that the population of this culturally diverse, high-risk population has significant clinical markers that are indicative of NAFLD.
authors.affiliation: University of New Mexico, College of Education, Albuquerque, NM. Electronic address: dcohen02@unm.edu.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Translational Science Center, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gonzales-Pacheco
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM.
authors.forename: Orrin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Myers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010045:Outpatients; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014280:Triglycerides; D000410:Alanine Transaminase
keywords: Hispanic; Metabolic syndrome; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Obesity; Pediatric