CLINICAL USE OF ACID STEATOCRIT

Malabsorption of fat is an important gastrointestinal cause of malnutr ition and growth retardation in childhood. The gold standard for the e valuation of fat malabsorption is the faecal fat balance method. The a cid steatocrit method has recently been introduced as a simple method to evaluate faecal fat. The present study was aimed at evaluating the acid steatocrit in clinical practice. Faecal fat excretion and acid st eatocrit results were determined in 42 children, half with and half wi thout fat malabsorption. Acid steatocrit results correlated significan tly with both faecal fat excretion (p < 0.01) and faecal fat concentra tion (p < 0.001). Sensitivity and specificity of the acid steatocrit f or the diagnosis of malabsorption were 90% and 100%, respectively. We consider the acid steatocrit method useful for the screening and monit oring of patients with steatorrhoea.