ArticleBMC pediatrics2019
Increased liver echogenicity and liver enzymes are associated with extreme obesity, adolescent age and male gender: analysis from the German/Austrian/Swiss obesity registry APV.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Essential dataset features in a successful obesity registry: a systematic review.International health · 2025Pooled it
- Pancreatic steatosis is associated with exocrine pancreatic dysfunction in children with MASLD: a prospective cross-sectional study.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Hepatic steatosis in pediatric obesity: association with cardiometabolic profile and considerations regarding alanine aminotransferase screening.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Hypertension in middle childhood.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous ultrasonography for visualization of the kidneys in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus): a quantitative assessment of echogenicity and echotexture in comparison with the liver and spleen.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
- The evolving landscape of pediatric obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Review
- Discordance diagnosis between B-mode ultrasonography and MRI proton density fat fraction for fatty liver.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Liver-function parameters are associated with incident hypertension in a large Taiwanese population follow-up study.Journal of human hypertension · 2023Article
- Analysis of risk factors for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in hospitalized children with obesity before the late puberty stage.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Pediatric obesity-Long-term consequences and effect of weight loss.Journal of internal medicine · 2022Review
- Prevalence of increased transaminases and its association with sex, age, and metabolic parameters in children and adolescents with obesity - a nationwide cross-sectional cohort study.BMC pediatrics · 2021Article
- Accuracy of a Semi-Quantitative Ultrasound Method to Determine Liver Fat Infiltration in Early Adulthood.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
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Abstract
backgroundChildhood obesity is often associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the most common chronic liver disease in pediatrics.
methodsThis multi-center study analyzed liver echogenicity and liver enzymes in relation to obesity, age, gender and comorbidities. Data were collected using a standardized documentation software (APV) from 1.033 pediatric patients (age: 4-18 years, body mass index = BMI: 28-36 kg/m
resultsIn total, 44% of the patients showed increased liver echogenicity. Liver enzymes > 25 U/L were present in 64% and > 50 U/L in 17%. Increased liver echogenicity was associated with elevated liver enzymes (> 25 U/L: odds ratio (OR) = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.9, P < 0.02; > 50 U/L: OR = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.4-5.1, P < 0.0001). Extreme obesity, adolescence and male gender were associated with increased liver echogenicity (extreme obesity vs overweight OR = 3.5, 95% CI: 1.9-6.1, P < 0.0001; age > 14 years vs age < 9 years OR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.4-3.5, P < 0.001; boys vs girls OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2-2.0, P < 0.001) and elevated liver enzymes (extreme obesity vs overweight > 25 U/L: OR = 4.1, 95% CI: 2.4-6.9, P < 0.0001; > 50 U/L: OR = 18.5, 95% CI: 2.5-135, P < 0.0001; age > 14 years vs age < 9 years > 50 U/L: OR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.0-3.7, P > 0.05; boys vs girls > 25 U/L: OR = 3.1, 95% CI: 2.4-4.1, P < 0.0001; > 50 U/L: OR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.5-2.9, P < 0.0001). Impaired glucose metabolism showed a significant correlation with elevated liver enzymes > 50 U/L (OR = 4.4, 95% CI: 1.6-11.8, P < 0.005). Arterial hypertension seemed to occur in patients with elevated liver enzymes > 25 U/L (OR 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2-2.0, P < 0.005).
conclusionsNAFLD is strongly related to extreme obesity in male adolescents. Moreover impaired glucose tolerance was observed in patients with elevated liver enzymes > 50 U/L, but arterial hypertension was only present in patients with moderately elevated liver enzymes > 25 U/L.
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