title: Value of Egy-Score in diagnosis of significant, advanced hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis compared to aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index, FIB-4 and Forns' index in chronic hepatitis C virus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Serum markers and developed scores are of rising importance in non-invasive diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis. Aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), FIB-4 and Forns' index are validated scores used for diagnosis of liver fibrosis. The Egy-Score is a newly developed score for detection of hepatic fibrosis with promising results. We aimed to assess the accuracy of the Egy-Score in the diagnosis of significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis compared to APRI, FIB-4 and Forns' in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study including 100 chronic hepatitis C naïve Egyptian patients was performed. Patients were classified according to stages of fibrosis into three groups: significant fibrosis (≥ F2), advanced fibrosis (≥ F3) and cirrhosis (F4). Egy-Score, APRI, FIB-4 and Forns' index were calculated. Regression analysis and receiver-operator curves were plotted to assess the sensitivity, specificity and predictive values for the significant scores with the best cut-off for diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An Egy-Score of 3.28 or more was superior to APRI, FIB-4 and Forns' index for detecting advanced fibrosis with a sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 78%. An Egy-Score of 3.67 or more was superior to APRI, FIB-4 and Forns' index for detecting cirrhosis with a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 87%. Forns' index was superior to Egy-Score, FIB-4 and APRI for detecting significant fibrosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Egy-Score is a promising, accurate, easily calculated, cost-effective score in the prediction of hepatic fibrosis in chronic HCV patients with superiority over APRI, FIB-4 and Forns' index in advanced hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt; Egyptian Liver Fibrosis Study Group, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alboraie
authors.forename: Marwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khairy
authors.forename: Marwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elsharkawy
authors.forename: Noha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Asem
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elsharkawy
authors.forename: Gamal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Esmat
keywords: Egy-Score; FIB-4; Forns'; aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index; chronic hepatitis C virus; hepatic fibrosis