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MAFLD in Obese Children: A Challenging Definition
Anna Di Sessa1, Stefano Guarino1, Giuseppina Rosaria Umano1
1Department of Woman, Child and of General and Specialized Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Via Luigi De Crecchio 2, 80138 Napoli, Italy.
Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|April 3, 2021
Summary
The new Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) definition may not accurately identify obese children at high cardiovascular risk. Further research is needed for a more precise pediatric obesity definition.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Cardiovascular Health
- Hepatology
Background:
- The recent Metabolic (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) definition is of significant scientific interest.
- Evaluating MAFLD's effectiveness in identifying obese children with elevated cardiovascular risk is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the utility of the MAFLD definition in identifying obese children at higher cardiovascular risk.
- To compare cardiometabolic profiles across different metabolic and hepatic steatosis statuses in pediatric obesity.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective enrollment of 954 obese children and adolescents.
- Clinical, biochemical, and metabolic evaluations, with hepatic steatosis assessed by liver ultrasound.
- Categorization into three groups based on metabolic status and presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Main Results:
- Group 3 (obesity, NAFLD, and metabolic dysregulation) exhibited a worse cardiometabolic profile.
- A significantly higher percentage of prediabetes was observed in Group 3 compared to other groups (p=0.001).
Conclusions:
- Current MAFLD criteria appear less accurate for identifying obese children with intrinsic higher cardiometabolic risk.
- There is a need for a more refined definition of MAFLD in the context of pediatric obesity to better stratify cardiovascular risk.
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