Free-breathing 3-D quantification of infant body composition and hepatic fat using a stack-of-radial magnetic resonance imaging technique.

Background: Body composition and hepatic fat correlate with future risk for metabolic syndrome. In children, many conventional techniques for quantifying body composition and hepatic fat have limitations. MRI is a noninvasive research tool to study body composition and hepatic fat in infants; however, conventional Cartesian MRI is sensitive to motion, particularly in the abdomen because of respiration.

Free-breathing Magnetic Resonance Imaging Assessment of Body Composition in Healthy and Overweight Children: An Observational Study.

Objective: Conventional, breath-holding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assesses body composition by measuring fat volumes and proton density fat fraction (PDFF). However, breath-holding MRI is not always feasible in children. This study's objective was to use free-breathing MRI to quantify visceral and subcutaneous fat volumes and PDFFs and correlate these measurements with hepatic PDFF.

Umbilical cord blood bilirubins, gestational age, and maternal race predict neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

Objective: No validated biomarker at birth exists to predict which newborns will develop severe hyperbilirubinemia. This study's primary aim was to build and validate a prediction model for severe hyperbilirubinemia using umbilical cord blood bilirubins (CBB) and risk factors at birth in neonates at risk for maternal-fetal blood group incompatibility. This study's secondary aim was to compare the accuracy of CBB to the direct antigen titer.

Free-breathing quantification of hepatic fat in healthy children and children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease using a multi-echo 3-D stack-of-radial MRI technique.

Background: In adults, noninvasive chemical shift encoded Cartesian magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single-voxel magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy (SVS) accurately quantify hepatic steatosis but require breath-holding. In children, especially young and sick children, breath-holding is often limited or not feasible. Sedation can facilitate breath-holding but is highly undesirable.