Application of attenuation coefficient in the assessment of hepatic involvement in children and adolescents with Wilson's disease

BackgroundTo investigate whether the attenuation coefficient (ATT) can be used as a noninvasive index to assess liver involvement in children and adolescents with Wilson's disease (WD).MethodsChildren and adolescents diagnosed with WD were retrospectively collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of the Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between May 2022 and August 2022. The findings on ATT, Shear Wave Measurement (SWM), AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), and fibrosis 4 (FIB-4) score were obtained. The liver involvement of WD was classified into 3 groups based on serum levels of collagen type IV (CIV), hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN) and precollagen type III N-terminal peptide (PIIINP): (1) Group1 (n = 25), no abnormalities in CIV, HA, LN and PIIINP; (2) Group2 (n = 19), elevation of 1 or 2 indexes in CIV, HA, LN, and PIIINP; Group3 (n = 18), elevation of 3 or 4 indicators in CIV, HA, LN, and PIIINP. The levels of ATT, SWM, APRI and FIB-4 were compared between the 3 groups; and correlation of ATT with SWM and triglyceride (TG) was performed using Spearman's correlation analysis. The Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the diagnostic efficacy of ATT alone and its combination with SWM, APRI, and FIB-4 in children and adolescents with WD.ResultsA total of 62 children and adolescents with WD were retrospectively retrieved. ATT levels were significantly different in intergroup comparisons (P < 0.001). The ROC curve showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis using ATT was 0.714, 0.712 and 0.867 in Group 1 versus Group 2, Group 2 versus Group 3, and Group 1 versus Group 3, respectively; the sensitivity for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis in Group 1 versus Group 2 was 89.47% with the cutoff value of ATT of 0.73 dB/cm/MHz. No significant correlation found between ATT and TG (rho = 0.154, P = 0.231). Compared to ATT alone, the combination of ATT with APRI and FIB-4 or the combination of ATT with SWM, APRI, and FIB-4 showed a better diagnostic efficacy in Group 1 versus Group 2 (both P = 0.038).ConclusionATT could be used as a non-invasive index for the evaluation of liver steatosis in children and adolescents with WD, with a good clinical applicative value. Furthermore, ATT in combination with APRI, FIB-4, and SWM might have better diagnostic efficacy than ATT alone.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the use of the attenuation coefficient (ATT) as a noninvasive index to assess liver involvement in children and adolescents with Wilson's disease (WD). The results showed that ATT can be used as a noninvasive index for evaluating liver steatosis in WD patients, and the combination of ATT with APRI, FIB-4, and SWM may improve diagnostic efficacy.