title: Usefulness of FibroScan for detection of early compensated liver cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is difficult to differentiate early compensated cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis solely by clinical features. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) for detection of early compensated liver cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-one consecutive CHB patients who underwent liver biopsy (LB) and LSM were recruited. All patients did not fulfill the clinical criteria for cirrhosis. The cutoff of LSM for cirrhosis was 10.3 kPa.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients were divided into either group A (cirrhosis) or group B (CHB) according to LB result. The median LSM values of groups A and B were 11.8 and 7.6 kPa, respectively (P < 0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of LSM in predicting cirrhosis were 0.59, 0.78, 0.68, and 0.72, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) of LSM was 0.803, whereas the AUROCs of aspartate to alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR) and aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) were 0.488 and 0.723, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LSM showed an acceptable diagnostic accuracy for detecting early compensated cirrhosis in CHB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 250 Seongsanno, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, South Korea.
authors.forename: Do Young
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung Up
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Jun Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jung Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Nyun
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ki Tae
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Yong Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: Kwan Sik
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chae Yoon
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chon
authors.forename: Kwang-Hyub
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity