Assessment of cardiovascular parameters in obese children and adolescents with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the periaortic fat thickness (paft) using conventional echocardiography in obese children and adolescents with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (nafld). methods: two hundred and ninety-seven obese children and adolescents were included in the study. anthropometric measurements were made in all subjects,and fasting venous blood samples were taken for determination of glucose,insulin,total cholesterol,low-density lipoprotein (ldl) cholesterol,high-density lipoprotein (hdl) cholesterol,triglycerides,alanine aminotransferase (alt) and aspartate aminotransferase (ast) levels. ultrasonography of the liver was used for assessment of nafld and the subjects were grouped as nafld and non-nafld. echocardiography was performed in all subjects. results: paft was higher in patients with nafld compared with the non-nafld group. in patients with nafld,paft was positively correlated with waist circumference and with total cholesterol levels. in multiple regression analysis,waist circumference (β=0.28,p=<0.001) was found to be the best predictor of paft. conclusion: conventional echocardiography may be used to determine increased paft at an early stage in obese children and adolescents with nafld for careful monitoring of cardiovascular risk. © journal of clinical research in pediatric endocrinology,published by galenos publishing.