MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging Definition
Background: Recently, the new definition of Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has gained remarkable scientific interest. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of MAFLD definition in selecting obese children at higher cardiovascular risk. Methods: A total of 954 obese ch...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/3/247 |
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| author | Anna Di Sessa Stefano Guarino Giuseppina Rosaria Umano Mattia Arenella Salvatore Alfiero Gaetano Quaranta Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice Pierluigi Marzuillo |
| author_facet | Anna Di Sessa Stefano Guarino Giuseppina Rosaria Umano Mattia Arenella Salvatore Alfiero Gaetano Quaranta Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice Pierluigi Marzuillo |
| author_sort | Anna Di Sessa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Recently, the new definition of Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has gained remarkable scientific interest. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of MAFLD definition in selecting obese children at higher cardiovascular risk. Methods: A total of 954 obese children and adolescents was retrospectively enrolled. Clinical, biochemical, and metabolic evaluations were performed. Hepatic steatosis was assessed by liver ultrasound. According to the metabolic status, the population was divided in three groups. Group 1 included obese patients without both non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic dysregulation; group 2 included patients with obesity and NAFLD (then encompassing one MAFLD criterion); group 3 included patients with obesity, NAFLD and evidence of metabolic dysregulation (then encompassing more than 1 MAFLD criteria). Results: Patients of Group 3 showed a worse cardiometabolic profile, as also proven by the higher percentage of prediabetes (defined as the presence of impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance) compared to other groups (<i>p</i> = 0.001). Conclusions: MAFLD criteria in obese children seem to be less accurate in identifying patients having an intrinsic higher cardiometabolic risk. This suggests the need for a more accurate definition in the context of pediatric obesity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:00:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7105548aafc045b9b4c1e8c89b2cf257 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:00:01Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj.art-7105548aafc045b9b4c1e8c89b2cf2572023-11-21T11:37:03ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672021-03-018324710.3390/children8030247MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging DefinitionAnna Di Sessa0Stefano Guarino1Giuseppina Rosaria Umano2Mattia Arenella3Salvatore Alfiero4Gaetano Quaranta5Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice6Pierluigi Marzuillo7Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, ItalyBackground: Recently, the new definition of Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has gained remarkable scientific interest. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of MAFLD definition in selecting obese children at higher cardiovascular risk. Methods: A total of 954 obese children and adolescents was retrospectively enrolled. Clinical, biochemical, and metabolic evaluations were performed. Hepatic steatosis was assessed by liver ultrasound. According to the metabolic status, the population was divided in three groups. Group 1 included obese patients without both non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic dysregulation; group 2 included patients with obesity and NAFLD (then encompassing one MAFLD criterion); group 3 included patients with obesity, NAFLD and evidence of metabolic dysregulation (then encompassing more than 1 MAFLD criteria). Results: Patients of Group 3 showed a worse cardiometabolic profile, as also proven by the higher percentage of prediabetes (defined as the presence of impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance) compared to other groups (<i>p</i> = 0.001). Conclusions: MAFLD criteria in obese children seem to be less accurate in identifying patients having an intrinsic higher cardiometabolic risk. This suggests the need for a more accurate definition in the context of pediatric obesity.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/3/247fattylivermetabolicdysfunctionchildrenobesity |
| spellingShingle | Anna Di Sessa Stefano Guarino Giuseppina Rosaria Umano Mattia Arenella Salvatore Alfiero Gaetano Quaranta Emanuele Miraglia del Giudice Pierluigi Marzuillo MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging Definition Children fatty liver metabolic dysfunction children obesity |
| title | MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging Definition |
| title_full | MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging Definition |
| title_fullStr | MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging Definition |
| title_full_unstemmed | MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging Definition |
| title_short | MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging Definition |
| title_sort | mafld in obese children a challenging definition |
| topic | fatty liver metabolic dysfunction children obesity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/3/247 |
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