Liver Fibrosis Assessment in a Cohort of Greek HIV Mono-Infected Patients by Non-Invasive Biomarkers

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-182
Author(s):  
Theodoros Androutsakos ◽  
Maria Schina ◽  
Abraham Pouliakis ◽  
Athanasios Kontos ◽  
Nikolaos Sipsas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liver Disease ◽  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
Standard Procedure ◽  
Liver Stiffness ◽  
Alcoholic Fatty Liver ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Metavir Score ◽  
Significant Liver Fibrosis

Background: Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is common in HIV-infected individuals. Liver biopsy remains the gold-standard procedure for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis, but both Transient Elastography (TE) and Non-invasive Biomarkers (NIBMs) have emerged as alternatives. Objectives: Our study’s aim was to validate commonly used NIBMs for the assessment of liver fibrosis in a cohort of Greek HIV-mono-infected patients. Methods: Inclusion criteria were confirmed HIV-infection and age>18 years and exclusion criteria HBV or HCV seropositivity, liver disease other than NAFLD, alcohol abuse, ascites, transaminases levels>4xULN(upper limit of normal) and Body-Mass index(BMI)>40. Liver stiffness (LS) measurement with TE and thorough laboratory work up and medical history were acquired at study entry. FIB-4, APRI, NFS, BARD, Forns and Lok scores were calculated for each patient. Results: A total of 157 patients were eligible for this study. Significant liver fibrosis, compatible with Metavir score of F3-F4, was found in only 11(7%) patients. These findings were in accordance with those of the NIBMs; the BARD score constituting the only exception, allocating 102(65%) patients as having significant liver fibrosis. In order to obtain a balance between sensitivity and specificity new cut-offs for each NIBM were calculated; FIB-4 score yielded the best results, since by changing the cut-off to 1.49 a sensitivity and specificity balanced for both close to 85% was achieved. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that NIBMs can be used for the evaluation of liver fibrosis in HIV mono-infected patients. New cut-offs for NIBMs should probably be calculated, to help distinguishing patients with significant from those with mild/no fibrosis.

scholarly journals Doppler ultrasonography combined with transient elastography improves the non-invasive assessment of fibrosis in patients with chronic liver diseases

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Alempijevic ◽  
Simon Zec ◽  
Vladimir Nikolic ◽  
Aleksandar Veljkovic ◽  
Zoran Stojanovic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Hepatic Artery ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Splenic Artery ◽  
Doppler Ultrasonography ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
Liver Stiffness ◽  
Significant Fibrosis ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Significant Liver Fibrosis

Aims: Accurate clinical assessment of liver fibrosis is essential and the aim of our study was to compare and combine hemodynamic Doppler ultrasonography, liver stiffness by transient elastography, and non-invasive serum biomarkers with the degree of fibrosis confirmed by liver biopsy, and thereby to determine the value of combining non-invasive method in the prediction significant liver fibrosis. Material and methods: We included 102 patients with chronic liver disease of various etiology. Each patient was evaluated using Doppler ultrasonography measurements of the velocity and flow pattern at portal trunk, hepatic and splenic artery, serum fibrosis biomarkers, and transient elastography. These parameters were then input into a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network with two hidden layers, and used to create models for predicting significant fibrosis. Results: According to METAVIR score, clinically significant fibrosis (≥F2) was detected in 57.8% of patients. A model based only on Doppler parameters (hepatic artery diameter, hepatic artery systolic and diastolic velocity, splenic artery systolic velocity and splenic artery Resistance Index), predicted significant liver fibrosis with a sensitivity and specificity of75.0% and 60.0%. The addition of unrelated non-invasive tests improved the diagnostic accuracy of Doppler examination. The best model for prediction of significant fibrosis was obtained by combining Doppler parameters, non-invasive markers (APRI, ASPRI, and FIB-4) and transient elastography, with a sensitivity and specificity of 88.9% and 100%. Conclusion: Doppler parameters alone predict the presence of ≥F2 fibrosis with fair accuracy. Better prediction rates are achieved by combining Doppler variables with non-invasive markers and liver stiffness by transient elastography.

scholarly journals Quantification of Liver Fibrosis, Steatosis, and Viscosity Using Multiparametric Ultrasound in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease: A “Real-Life” Cohort Study

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 783
Author(s):  
Alexandru Popa ◽  
Felix Bende ◽  
Roxana Șirli ◽  
Alina Popescu ◽  
Victor Bâldea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liver Disease ◽  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Plane Wave ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
Liver Stiffness ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
Alcoholic Fatty Liver ◽  
Non Invasive

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of four ultrasound-based techniques for the non-invasive multiparametric (MPUS) assessment of liver fibrosis (LF), steatosis (HS), and inflammation in patients with NAFLD. We included 215 consecutive adult patients with NAFLD (mean age: 54.9 ± 11.7; 54.5% were male), in whom LF, HS, and viscosity were evaluated in the same session using four new ultrasound-based techniques embedded on the Aixplorer MACH 30 system: ShearWave Elastography (2D-SWE.PLUS), Sound Speed Plane-wave UltraSound (SSp.PLUS), Attenuation Plane-wave UltraSound (Att.PLUS), and Viscosity Plane-wave UltraSound (Vi.PLUS). Transient Elastography (TE) with Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP) (FibroScan) were considered as control. All elastographic measurements were performed according to guidelines. Valid liver stiffness measurements (LSM) were obtained in 98.6% of patients by TE, in 95.8% of patients by 2D-SWE.PLUS/Vi.PLUS, and in 98.1% of patients by Att.PLUS/SSp.PLUS, respectively. Therefore, 204 subjects were included in the final analysis. A strong correlation between LSMs by 2D-SWE.PLUS and TE (r = 0.89) was found. The best 2D-SWE.PLUS cut-off value for the presence of significant fibrosis (F ≥ 2) was 7 kPa. Regarding steatosis, SSp.PLUS correlated better than Att.PLUS with CAP values: (r = −0.74) vs. (r = 0.45). The best SSp.PLUS cut-off value for predicting the presence of significant steatosis was 1524 m/s. The multivariate regression analysis showed that Vi.PLUS values were associated with BMI and LSM by 2D-SWE.PLUS. In conclusion, MPUS was useful for assessing fibrosis, steatosis, and inflammation in a single examination in patients with NAFLD.

Early kidney dysfunction in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - is transient elastography useful as a screening method?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Freitas ◽  
Vítor Macedo Silva ◽  
Sofia Xavier ◽  
Joana Magalhes ◽  
Carla Marinho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liver Disease ◽  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Fatty Liver ◽  
Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
Screening Method ◽  
Kidney Dysfunction ◽  
Alcoholic Fatty Liver ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Significant Liver Fibrosis

Introduction: Increasing evidence suggests an association between metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Timely prediction of early kidney dysfunction (EKD) is thus essential in this population, although a screening method is not stablished. We aimed to evaluate the role of transient elastography (TE) in predicting EKD in patients with MAFLD. Methods: Prospective cohort study that included patients with MAFLD scheduled for evaluation, between May/2019 and January/2020. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data, and TE parameters were obtained. EKD was defined as microalbuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio 30-300mg/g) and estimated glomerular filtration rate≥60mL/min/1.73m2. Significant liver fibrosis was defined as liver stiffness measurement (LSM)≥8.2kPa. Results: Included 45 patients with MALFD, 53.3% female gender, mean age of 53.5±10.9years. EKD was found in 17.8% of patients. MAFLD patients with EKD were significantly more obese (body mass index≥30) (75.0% vs 32.4%,p=0.045) and had significantly higher LSM (8.5±4.1 vs 5.8±2.2kPa,p=0.01). After adjustment of potential confounders for EKD the presence of liver fibrosis, remained a significant predictor of EKD, being associated with a 14.3-fold increased risk of EKD (p=0.04). The optimal cutoff value of LSM to predict EKD was 6.1kPa (sensitivity:85.7%; specificity:67.6%). Conclusion: Significant liver fibrosis is associated with a significant increased risk of EKD in patients with MAFLD, regardless of other comorbidities. Higher levels of LSM, particularly >6.1kPa, alert for timely identification of EKD and associated comorbidities, as well as their control, in order to prevent the development of CKD in the long term.

scholarly journals Advances in non-invasive assessment of hepatic fibrosis

Gut ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1343-1352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohit Loomba ◽  
Leon A Adams
Keyword(s):  
Liver Disease ◽  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Liver Stiffness ◽  
Chronic Liver ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Fibrosis Score ◽  
Alcoholic Fatty Liver ◽  
Need For Treatment ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Confirmatory Tests

Liver fibrosis should be assessed in all individuals with chronic liver disease as it predicts the risk of future liver-related morbidity and thus need for treatment, monitoring and surveillance. Non-invasive fibrosis tests (NITs) overcome many limitations of liver biopsy and are now routinely incorporated into specialist clinical practice. Simple serum-based tests (eg, Fibrosis Score 4, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease Fibrosis Score) consist of readily available biochemical surrogates and clinical risk factors for liver fibrosis (eg, age and sex). These have been extensively validated across a spectrum of chronic liver diseases, however, tend to be less accurate than more ‘complex’ serum tests, which incorporate direct measures of fibrogenesis or fibrolysis (eg, hyaluronic acid, N-terminal propeptide of type three collagen). Elastography methods quantify liver stiffness as a marker of fibrosis and are more accurate than simple serum NITs, however, suffer increasing rates of unreliability with increasing obesity. MR elastography appears more accurate than sonographic elastography and is not significantly impacted by obesity but is costly with limited availability. NITs are valuable for excluding advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis, however, are not sufficiently predictive when used in isolation. Combining serum and elastography techniques increases diagnostic accuracy and can be used as screening and confirmatory tests, respectively. Unfortunately, NITs have not yet been demonstrated to accurately reflect fibrosis change in response to treatment, limiting their role in disease monitoring. However, recent studies have demonstrated lipidomic, proteomic and gut microbiome profiles as well as microRNA signatures to be promising techniques for fibrosis assessment in the future.

scholarly journals Clinical Applicability of Transient Elastography for Estimating Liver Stiffness in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-254
Author(s):  
P.R. van Dijk ◽  
G.W.D. Landman ◽  
S. Hoving ◽  
N. Kleefstra ◽  
H.J.G. Bilo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Liver Disease ◽  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Success Rate ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
Liver Stiffness ◽  
Alcoholic Fatty Liver

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a risk factor for the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which can lead to liver fibrosis and ultimately to cirrhosis. Transient elastography (TE), by using the FibroScan, and is a non-invasive ultrasonography method to measure liver elasticity. TE has been related with the degree of liver fibrosis. Objective: To investigate the applicability of TE in daily clinical practice among T2DM patients. Method: In a non-academic teaching hospital, T2DM patients without a history of liver disease the degree of liver stiffness was measured using TE. Successful measurements were defined as 10 validated measurements per patient and an interquartile range (IQR) to median ratio of ≤30%. Results: In 90 of 126 patients (71%) valid measurements were be obtained. Among the patients with invalid measurements, 33 had < 10 valid measurements and 3 had a IQR to median ratio of <30%. The percentage of invalid measurements was 12% in patients with a BMI <30 kg/m2 and 39% in patients with a BMI ≥30 kg/m2. Among the 90 patients with valid liver stiffness measurements, the median liver stiffness was 6.7 [4.6-8.5] kPa with a IQR of measurements of 1.1 [0.6-1.8] kPa and IQR to median ratio of 17 (13-23)%. Conclusion: The success rate of TE measurements using the FibroScan in patients with T2DM was 71%, with a lower success rate in patients with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2. This diagnostic modality needs further investigation being introduced as a marker of fibrosis in daily diabetes practice.

scholarly journals Utility of Transient Elastography for the Screening of Liver Disease in Patients with Alpha1-Antitrypsin Deficiency

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1724
Author(s):  
Mònica Pons ◽  
Alexa Núñez ◽  
Cristina Esquinas ◽  
María Torres-Durán ◽  
Juan Luis Rodríguez-Hermosa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liver Disease ◽  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Liver Enzymes ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
Liver Stiffness ◽  
Normal Liver ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Elevated Liver Enzymes ◽  
Antitrypsin Deficiency ◽  
Significant Liver Fibrosis

Screening of liver disease in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is usually carried out with liver enzymes, with low sensitivity. We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional study aiming to describe the utility of transient elastography for the identification of liver disease in patients with AATD. A total of 148 AATD patients were included. Among these, 54.7% were Pi*ZZ and 45.3% were heterozygous for the Z allele. Between 4.9% and 16.5% of patients had abnormal liver enzymes, without differences among genotypes. Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) was significantly higher in Pi*ZZ individuals than in heterozygous Z (5.6 vs. 4.6 kPa; p = 0.001). In total, in 8 (5%) individuals LSM was >7.5 kPa, considered significant liver fibrosis, and ≥10 kPa in 3 (1.9%) all being Pi*ZZ. Elevated liver enzymes were more frequently observed in patients with LSM > 7.5 kPa, but in 5 out of 8 of these patients all liver enzymes were within normal range. In patients with AATD, the presence of abnormal liver enzymes is frequent; however, most of these patients do not present significant liver fibrosis. Transient elastography can help to identify patients with liver fibrosis even with normal liver enzymes and should be performed in all Z-allele carriers to screen for liver disease.

scholarly journals Correlation of the Lipid Ratios With Hepatic Steatosis and Liver Fibrosis in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Guo ◽  
Pei Qin ◽  
Xiaona Li ◽  
Jing Lu ◽  
Wenfang Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liver Disease ◽  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Fatty Liver ◽  
Hepatic Steatosis ◽  
Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
Liver Stiffness ◽  
Alcoholic Fatty Liver ◽  
Lipid Ratios ◽  
Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract Background: The work intends to investigate the correlation of the lipid ratios to the severity of hepatic steatosis and the presence of liver fibrosis among non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients.Methods: Randomly selected 3402 participants were differentiated into the NAFLD (n =2036) and the non-NAFLD group (n =1366) in accordance with the outcomes of the liver ultrasonography. The related anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured, while the severity of hepatic steatosis and the presence of liver stiffness were appraised by transient elastography.Results: The triglycerides/ high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) and total cholesterol/HDL-C (TC/HDL-C) ratios exhibited a close connection with the severity of hepatic steatosis. Furthermore, higher area under the receiver operator characteristic (AUROC) value for TG/HDL-C than those of TC, TG, LDL-C, HDL-C, TC/HDL-C and non-HDL-C, was observed. Accordingly, the AUROC and optimal cut-off point of TG/HDL-C for NAFLD were 0.771 (95%CI: 0.755-0.787), 1.08 (sensitivity: 72.2 %, specificity: 68.3%), respectively. TG/HDL-C and TC/HDL-C were independent risk factors for the presence of liver fibrosis in NAFLD. Notably, the fact of relatively high AUROC while low AUROC (0.610) values of TG/HDL-C for detecting the presence of liver fibrosis relative to other lipid indexes indicated that it could not function as a desirable indicator of the presence of liver fibrosis in NAFLD.Conclusions: TG/HDL-C can be an independent risk factor for the severity of hepatic steatosis and the presence of liver fibrosis in NAFLD, furthermore, it possesses predictive significance to NAFLD but not to liver fibrosis.

scholarly journals Combined Serum Golgi Membrane Glycoprotein 73 Improves the Accuracy of Transient Elastography for Significant Fibrosis Detection in Patients with Chronic HBV Infections

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiaoxia Zhou ◽  
Libo Yan ◽  
Lingyao Du ◽  
Xiaoqiong Tang ◽  
Hong Tang
Keyword(s):  
Liver Fibrosis ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Transient Elastography ◽  
Liver Stiffness ◽  
Area Under The Curve ◽  
Membrane Glycoprotein ◽  
Golgi Membrane ◽  
Significant Fibrosis ◽  
Potential Biomarker ◽  
Significant Liver Fibrosis

Background: Golgi membrane glycoprotein 73 (GP73) serum level is a potential biomarker for diagnosing significant fibrosis and cirrhosis in chronic liver diseases. Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of GP73 serum levels as a biomarker in the diagnosis of significant liver fibrosis in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV). A new promising algorithm was developed by combining LSM and GP73 to predict significant liver fibrosis. Methods: Information on the following parameters were obtained from 165 patients with HBV: liver stiffness measurement (LSM), serum GP73 level, and some other fibrosis criteria approved for clinical practice. The area under the curve (AUC) and sensitivity and specificity of GP73 were compared with LSM, aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and 4-factor based fibrosis index (FIB-4) for diagnosing significant fibrosis. Results: Compared to the non-significant liver fibrosis patients, the HBV infected patients with significant fibrosis showed a higher level of serum GP73 [64.05 (24.41 - 144.39) versus 91.30 (31.81 - 200.05) ng/mL, P < 0.001]. Concerning significant fibrosis diagnosis, GP73 exhibited advantages regarding the AUC (0.702), sensitivity (69.3%), and specificity (66.0%). Besides, GP73 did not show any advantage over LSM and APRI, but it had a better performance than FIB-4 in significant fibrosis detection. For the newly developed algorithm combining GP73 with LSM, the AUC, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.848, 77.4%, and 83.5%, respectively; hence, it's superior to LSM (0.832, 72.6%, and 83.5%, respectively; P = 0.016) for diagnosing significant fibrosis. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that GP73 can be considered as a new effective biomarker for diagnosing liver fibrosis. The accuracy of significant fibrosis detection in patients with HBV infection can be improved by the new algorithm that contains GP73 and LSM.

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