Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to study the application of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) in quantitative assessment of nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) in children. Methods 92 children with NAFL and 120 health children were enrolled in our hospital between April 2015 and January 2019, and all were checked-up by acoustic radiation force impulse imaging technology for the shear wave velocity (SWV). The diagnosticefficacy was analyzed by the area under ROC (AUC). Results The SWV in children with NAFL was (1.3±0.2)m/s, significantly higher than [(0.8±0.2)m/s, P＜0.01] in healthy children; the SWV in 36 children with mild NAFL was(1.1±0.1)m/s, significantly lower than [(1.2±0.1)m/s, P＜0.01] in 31 children with moderate NAFL or [(1.4±0.3)m/s, P＜0.01] in 25 children with severe NAFL(P＜0.01); the AUC analysis showed that the optimal cut-off-value for diagnosis of NAFL by SWV was 1.09 m/s, with the AUC of being 0.836, sensitivity of 0.826, and specificity of 0.850. Conclusion The application of ARFI could accurately and quantitatively evaluate NAFL in children, and it plays an important role in the early screening of ARFI.

Key words: Nonalcoholic fatty liver, Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging technology, Diagnosis, Children