Abdominal thermography in infantile and childhood liver disease

Thermography provides an indication of the infrared energy emitted from various skin surfaces and, usually, reflects heat conveyed there from underlying organs. We have used abdominal thermography to study 62 infants and children with acute and chronic liver disease. Thirty-four healthy infants and children were studied as controls. Thermograms were abnormal in 96% of all patients with liver disease. The most common pattern was diffuse heat emission over the liver area, either alone or in combination with vascular and/or mottled patterns. A mottled pattern was more common in chronic liver disease. Although follow-up thermograms were obtained in 28 patients, the data obtained for different types of liver disease are as yet insufficient to warrant conclusions. However, it appeared that reversal of an abnormal thermogram to normal was associated with improvement of liver function and histologic findings in two patients with acute viral hepatitis. On the other hand, persistence of abnormal thermographic records was always associated with persistent hepatic disease as determined by histology and tests of liver function.