Objective: To assess the feasibility of quantitatively assessing pancreatic steatosis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its correlation with obesity and metabolic risk factors in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods: Pediatric patients (≤ 18 years) who underwent liver fat quantification MRI between January 2016 and June 2019 were retrospectively included and divided into the obesity and control groups. Pancreatic proton density fat fraction (P-PDFF) was measured as the average value for three circular regions of interest (ROIs) drawn in the pancreatic head, body, and tail. Age, weight, laboratory results, and mean liver MRI values including liver PDFF (L-PDFF), stiffness on MR elastography, and T2* values were assessed for their correlation with P-PDFF using linear regression analysis. The associations between P-PDFF and metabolic risk factors, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), and dyslipidemia, were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 172 patients (male:female = 125:47; mean ± standard deviation [SD], 13.2 ± 3.1 years) were included. The mean P-PDFF was significantly higher in the obesity group than in the control group (mean ± SD, 4.2 ± 2.5% vs. 3.4 ± 2.4%; p = 0.037). L-PDFF and liver stiffness values showed no significant correlation with P-PDFF (p = 0.235 and p = 0.567, respectively). P-PDFF was significantly associated with obesity (odds ratio 1.146, 95% confidence interval 1.006–1.307, p = 0.041), but there was no significant association with hypertension, DM, and dyslipidemia. Conclusion MRI can be used to quantitatively measure pancreatic steatosis in children. P-PDFF is significantly associated with obesity in pediatric patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal timing for screening spinal cord ultrasonography (US) to detect filum terminale lipoma in infants. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed infants (<12 months old) who underwent repeated spinal cord US between April 2011 and January 2019. We excluded infants if they only had one US examination, or if they had lesions other than filum terminale lipoma. Infants with filum terminale lipoma on magnetic resonance imaging were included in the lipoma group and the others in the control group. A linear mixed model was used to assess differences in the growth pattern of filum terminale thickness by age and group. The cutoff thickness on US and its diagnostic performance were assessed according to age. Results: Among 442 infants with 901 US examinations, 46 were included in the lipoma group and 58 in the control group. Sixty-seven infants had unmeasurable filum terminale thickness on initial US, including 55 neonates (82.1%) before 1 month of age. The lipoma group had significantly greater filum terminale thickness than the control group (P<0.001). Thickness increased with age in the lipoma group (P=0.027). The sensitivity of US was 87.5% and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.949 (95% confidence interval, 0.849 to 0.991) with a cutoff value of 1.1 mm in 4- to 6-month-old infants. Conclusion Screening spinal cord US could effectively diagnose filum terminale lipoma in 4- to 6-month-old infants with a cutoff thickness of 1.1 mm. Spinal cord US can be used to screen young infants with intraspinal abnormalities.