Open AccessProthrombin index decrease: a useful and reliable marker of extensive fibrosis?
Author(s) -
Jean–François Cadranel,
Philippe Mathurin
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
european journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.881
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1473-5687
pISSN - 0954-691X
DOI - 10.1097/00042737-200210000-00004
Subject(s) - medicine , cirrhosis , fibrosis , prothrombin time , gastroenterology , liver biopsy , pathology , viral hepatitis , gold standard (test) , liver disease , biopsy
Non-invasive serum markers of extensive liver fibrosis are required in clinical practice for several reasons: (1) although histological analysis is considered to be the gold standard for the diagnosis of extensive fibrosis and cirrhosis, the rate of false-negative results is approximately 15-20%; (2) liver biopsy is an invasive method with a 1/10 000 mortality rate, even though occurrence of death is exceptional in patients with diffuse liver disease; (3) patients with chronic viral hepatitis have to undergo multiple liver biopsies during follow-up to assess the progression of tissue injury. In this leading article, we briefly overview the recent progress in non-invasive serum markers for the prediction of the extent of liver fibrosis. Among those serum markers, we focused on prothrombin index, which seems to be a reliable and non-expansive marker for the diagnosis of extensive fibrosis.