The use of ultrasound in clinical setting for children affected by NAFLD: is it safe and accurate?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become over the last decade the most common form of chronic liver disease in children and adults. Thus, establishing the diagnosis of NAFLD is of utmost importance and represents a major challenge as the disease is ge...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alisi Anna, Monti Lidia, Corte Claudia, Nobili Valerio, Feldstein Ariel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2011-08-01
Series:Italian Journal of Pediatrics
Online Access:http://www.ijponline.net/content/37/1/36
Description
Summary:<p>Abstract</p> <p>Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become over the last decade the most common form of chronic liver disease in children and adults. Thus, establishing the diagnosis of NAFLD is of utmost importance and represents a major challenge as the disease is generally silent and the current gold standard for diagnosis is an invasive liver biopsy, a procedure that is not suitable for screening purposes. Many non-invasive diagnostic tools have been evaluated so far. Recently the utility of ultrasonography for non-invasive diagnosis and estimation of hepatic steatosis has been demonstrated in a large prospective pediatric study.</p>
ISSN:1720-8424
1824-7288