Usefulness of FibroScan for detection of early compensated liver cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B.
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.
Kim
Do Young
DY
Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 250 Seongsanno, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, South Korea.
Kim
Seung Up
SU
Ahn
Sang Hoon
SH
Park
Jun Yong
JY
Lee
Jung Min
JM
Park
Young Nyun
YN
Yoon
Ki Tae
KT
Paik
Yong Han
YH
Lee
Kwan Sik
KS
Chon
Chae Yoon
CY
Han
Kwang-Hyub
KH
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