Fatty Liver Disease in Children: Prevalence, Evaluation, & Essential Tools

 

 

Dr. Alisha Mavis, a Pediatric Hepatologist at Duke University where she cares for pediatric patients with liver disease joins eHealth Radio and the Children's Health & Health News Channels.

Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels and guest Dr. Alisha Mavis discuss the following:

1. What is the prevalence of fatty liver disease in children, and who should we be screening?
2. When screening a child for fatty liver disease, what are some of the tools used to evaluate for the disease, and how is the diagnosis of pediatric fatty liver disease made?
3. What is the natural history of pediatric liver disease, and how does this differ from adult fatty liver disease?
4. What are the current recommendations for the treatment of pediatric fatty liver disease?
5. Are there other diseases associated with pediatric fatty liver disease?

As a pediatric hepatologist at Duke University, Dr. Mavis cares for children of all ages with a variety of liver diseases and patients with improperly functioning small bowel/intestinal failure requiring long-term nutritional support. She also cares for patients needing a liver and/or small bowel transplant.

One of the most common diseases seen in her clinic is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an increasing chronic condition in pediatrics that parallels the obesity epidemic. NAFLD and other chronic liver diseases place a significant burden on the child as well as the function of the family. Dr. Mavis’ goal is to do everything possible to support and encourage the child and family to maintain full participation across all aspects of life while managing their disease.

Her specific areas of interest are NAFLD, portal hypertension, liver transplant, and Fontan associated liver disease. Much of her research focuses on transplant outcomes and pediatric NAFLD, specifically relationships between early life changes and risk factors, nutritional aspects of fatty liver disease, and the impact of metabolic phenotype.

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