Radiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Patriquin, H.
Right arrow Articles by Rasquin-Weber, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Patriquin, H.
Right arrow Articles by Rasquin-Weber, A.
(Radiology. 1999;211:229-232.)
© RSNA, 1999

Pediatric Imaging

Liver Disease in Children with Cystic Fibrosis: US-Biochemical Comparison in 195 Patients1

Heidi Patriquin, MD, Catherine Lenaerts, MD, Lesley Smith, MD, Gilles Perreault, MD, Andrée Grignon, MD, Denis Filiatrault, MD, Jacques Boisvert, MD, Claude C. Roy, MD and Andrée Rasquin-Weber, MD

1 From the Departments of Medical Imaging (H.P., G.P., A.G., D.F., J.B.) and Gastroenterology (C.L., L.S., C.C.R., A.R.W.), Sainte-Justine Hospital, 3175 Côte Ste-Catherine, Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1C5, Canada. Received December 24, 1997; revision requested March 24, 1998; revision received August 3; accepted October 13. Supported in part by grants from the Justine-Lacoste-Beaubien Foundation. Address reprint requests to H.P.

PURPOSE: To determine if abnormal liver architecture at ultrasonography (US) is related to abnormal function in children with cystic fibrosis (CF).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: For 1 year, all 195 children (112 boys, 83 girls; mean age, 8.5 years) attending a CF clinic underwent abdominal US and a standard set of liver function tests. Aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and {gamma}-glutamyltransferase levels were analyzed. US signs were interpreted as follows: hypoechogenicity with prominent portal tracks as edema, hyperechogenicity as steatosis, and increased attenuation and nodules within or at the edge of the liver as cirrhosis. Signs of portal hypertension also were sought. US signs were compared with liver function test results.

RESULTS: Liver sonograms were abnormal in 38 children (19%); of these, 24 (63%) had abnormal test results. The 157 children with normal liver architecture had a much lower prevalence of biochemical abnormality (33 patients [21%]; P <= .001). All eight children with signs of portal hypertension had abnormal test results. Fourteen (82%) of 17 children with signs of cirrhosis had abnormal liver function. Eight (57%) of 14 patients with signs of steatosis had abnormal function. Diffuse hypoechogenicity of the liver with prominent portal tracks in 16 patients was associated with abnormal function in only five patients.

CONCLUSION: The relation between abnormal liver architecture at US and results of three liver function tests in children with CF was significant. The most specific US abnormalities related to abnormal function are signs suggestive of portal hypertension and cirrhosis.

Index terms: Fibrosis, cystic, 761.1496 • Hypertension, portal, 95.711 • Liver, cirrhosis, 761.794 • Liver, US, 761.12983 • Ultrasound (US), in infants and children, 761.12983




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Ultrasound MedHome page
C. F. Dietrich, M. Chichakli, T. O. Hirche, J. Bargon, P. Leitzmann, T. O. Wagner, and B. Lembcke
Sonographic Findings of the Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic System in Adult Patients With Cystic Fibrosis
J. Ultrasound Med., April 1, 2002; 21(4): 409 - 416.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]