Risk Scores for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease in Pediatric Obesity

Early noninvasive detection of incipient liver damage is crucial to prevent long-term adverse health outcomes. A variety of scores to assess liver status have been proposed, mostly for adult populations. Validation of noninvasive hepatic scores to identify children at risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a gap in research, particularly in youth with severe obesity considering pubertal stage and sex.

In a well-characterized pediatric population aged 9-19 years (n = 115), 19 published liver scores were analyzed. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for determination of MAFLD as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging was calculated.

The pediatric indices PNFI, B-AST, and M-APRI and several scores developed in adults significantly differed in children with MAFLD compared to children without, while some established indices did not. Only nonalcoholic fatty liver disease liver fat score (NAFLD-LFS) and the model by Cao et al. [PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e82092] showed acceptable predictive accuracy (AUROC >0.8) independently of pubertal stage and sex. When stratifying for pubertal stage and sex, the GSG-Index was superior in pubertal girls, and NAFLD-LFS performed best in pubertal boys.

NAFLD-LFS and the model by Cao et al. [PLoS One. 2013;8(12):e82092] were well suited to predict MAFLD in youth with severe obesity. In pubertal children, GSG-Index and NAFLD-LFS performed best in girls and boys, respectively.