Abstract: Objective To study the value of real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) in quantitative detection of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children. Methods 96 children with NAFLD admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to September 2019 were selected as the observation group, and 124 normal children as the control group. The Young's modulus of liver was measured by SWE technique.Young's modulus and serum alanine aminotransferase and glutamic oxaloacetic aminotransferase levels were compared between the two groups. The relationship between Young's modulus and severity of NAFLD and liver function indexes was analyzed, and the predictive value of Young's modulus for children's NAFLD was judged. Results The young's modulus of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05), and the serum GPT and GST were significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05).Serum alanine aminotransferase and glutamic oxaloacetic aminotransferase were positively correlated with Young's modulus in children with NAFLD (r=0.322, 0.467, P= 0.000, 0.000).Among 96 cases of NAFLD, 32 cases were mild NAFLD, 31 cases were moderate NAFLD and 33 cases were severe NAFLD.The young's modulus of mild NAFLD was significantly higher than that of moderate NAFLD and severe NAFLD (P<0.05), and the young's modulus of moderate NAFLD was significantly higher than that of severe NAFLD (P<0.05).Young's modulus has a certain predictive value for children's NAFLD, and the area under the curve is 0.895. Conclusion SWE plays an important role in assessing the severity of NAFLD and its lesions in children, and can be used for early screening of NAFLD in children.

Key words: Shear wave elastrography, Children, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Young's modulus