Childhood cancer survivors transfused before 1992 are at risk for chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection. In 1995, St Jude Children's Research Hospital initiated an epidemiologic study of childhood cancer survivors with transfusion-acquired HCV. Of the 148 survivors with HCV confirmed by second-generation enzyme immunoassay, 122 consented to participate in the study. Their current median age is 29...

Fibrocystic disease of the pancreas is a congenital condition seen most frequently in infancy and early childhood, resulting from the production of excessively viscid mucus in the alimentary and respiratory tracts. It may present within the first few days of life as acute intestinal obstruction, resulting from meconium ileus, and is characterized clinically in later infancy and childhood by ste...

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is an important liver disease in children; it can cause cirrhosis in children. The disease mechanism involves hepatic insulin resistance with hyperinsulinemia and changes in certain adipocytokines and inflammatory mediators. The differential diagnosis of childhood NASH includes metabolic disorders, drug hepatotoxicity, and alcoholic hepatitis in adolescent p...

BACKGROUND Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a pulmonary complication characterized by a triad of chronic liver disease, arterial hypoxemia, and pulmonary vascular dilations. Agitated saline contrast echocardiography is a simple inexpensive criterion standard procedure for confirming the diagnosis of HPS. CASE REPORT Here, we discuss a case of a 45-year-old male Indian patient with no medical...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE MR imaging sheds new light on CNS involvement in the course of acquired chronic liver disease; however, the exact pathogenetic mechanisms of hepatic encephalopathy and associated MR abnormalities remain unclear. Our purpose was to relate MR signal intensity abnormalities of the CNS to clinical, biochemical, and pathologic features of childhood-onset chronic liver disease....

American Indians experience higher rates of obesity than any other ethnic group living in the USA. This disparity begins to develop in early childhood, and the excess weight carried by American Indian children contributes to health conditions that can affect their quality of life by the time they enter preschool. These children consume less than recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, a d...