Premium
Noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis
Author(s) -
Martínez Stella M.,
Crespo Gonzalo,
Navasa Miquel,
Forns Xavier
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.24013
Subject(s) - hepatology , medicine , liver biopsy , cirrhosis , fibrosis , liver disease , liver fibrosis , viral hepatitis , stage (stratigraphy) , transient elastography , gastroenterology , biopsy , disease , clinical practice , intensive care medicine , pathology , physical therapy , paleontology , biology
Liver biopsy has long been an important tool for assessing the degree of liver fibrosis. Information on the presence and degree of liver fibrosis is useful before making therapeutic decisions or predicting disease outcomes. The need to stage liver fibrosis, however, should decrease as treatment options become more successful (as has occurred with viral hepatitis). In recent years, noninvasive tests have demonstrated a reasonable ability to identify significant fibrosis, cirrhosis in particular, nor is it surprising that liver disease specialists and patients favor a noninvasive approach. However, only those tests with the highest diagnostic accuracy, cost‐effectiveness, and availability should be implemented. Apart from their diagnostic accuracy, the potential ability of these tests to predict disease outcomes (a more relevant endpoint) should be compared with that of liver biopsy. Indeed, the use of a standardized system to evaluate the utility of biomarkers would facilitate their implementation in clinical practice. (H EPATOLOGY 2011.)