Abstract #1942

Liver stiffness in pediatric subjects is lower than in adults, and increases with age: a multifrequency MR elastography study

Emily Etchell¹, Lauriane Jugé ^1,2, Alice Hatt¹, Ralph Sinkus³, and Lynne E. Bilston^1,4

¹Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW, Australia, ²School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia, ³BHF Centre of Excellence, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Prince of Wales Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia

Magnetic resonance (MR) elastography provides clinical information for chronic hepatic disorders by quantifying an increase in liver stiffness compared to heathy baseline values. Thus far however, baseline stiffness values have only been reported for adults. We aimed to fill this gap by quantifying healthy liver stiffness of children and adolescents. Results showed that pediatric liver stiffness increases with age during normal development, approaching adult values during adolescence. This implies that comparing pediatric liver stiffness measurements to adult baseline values when using MR elastography may miss disease or underestimate disease severity.

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