Medium-chain triglyceride diet: its use in treatment of liver disease.

Three years ago, when starting an investigation of infants with neonatal hepatitis or biliary atresia, we observed that some of these babies passed stools which appeared to contain excessive fat. Balance studies in these infants confirmed the presence of severe steatorrhoea. The slow growth seen in children with liver disease has traditionally been attributed to "poor liver function." Our findings suggested that steatorrhoea might be an important factor even in those patients whose bowel motions were not so obviously abnormal.