Advanced hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis due to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Sri Lankan children: a preliminary report

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common chronic liver diseases and may progress to advanced hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis in some patients. Cirrhosis due to NAFLD is considered extremely rare in children in the Asia-Pacific region. We report the characteristics of 5 children with advanced hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis due to NAFLD. Four of them were obese, and all of them had high alanine transaminase levels and ultrasonographic evidence of fatty liver. None had diabetes mellitus or hyperlipidemia. The calculated HOMA-IR was more than two in all five cases. Liver biopsy showed stage III fibrosis in 2 patients and stage IV fibrosis (cirrhosis) in 3.