Open AccessShear wave elastography predicts hepatocellular carcinoma risk in hepatitis C patients after sustained virological response
Author(s) -
Koichi Hamada,
Satoshi Saitoh,
Noriyuki Nishino,
Daizo Fukushima,
Yoshinori Horikawa,
Shinya Nishida,
Michitaka Honda
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0195173
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatocellular carcinoma , proportional hazards model , hepatitis c , gastroenterology , multivariate analysis , hepatitis c virus , oncology , immunology , virus
Aim To evaluate the relationship between fibrosis and HCC after sustained virological response (SVR) to treatment for chronic hepatitis C (HCV). Methods This single-center study retrospectively evaluated 196 patients who achieved SVR after HCV infection. The associations of risk factors with HCC development after HCV eradication were evaluated using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results Among the 196 patients, 8 patients (4.1%) developed HCC after SVR during a median follow-up of 26 months. Multivariate analyses revealed that HCC development was independently associated with age of ≥75 years (risk ratio [RR] = 35.16), α- fetoprotein levels of ≥6 ng/mL (RR = 40.30), and SWE results of ≥11 kPa (RR = 28.71). Conclusions Our findings indicate that SWE may facilitate HCC surveillance after SVR and the identification of patients who have an increased risk of HCC after HCV clearance.