Systematic review: non‐invasive methods of fibrosis analysis in chronic hepatitis C
- 18 August 2009
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics
- Vol. 30 (6), 557-576
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2009.04062.x
Abstract
Accurate determination of the presence and degree of liver fibrosis is essential for prognosis and for planning treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Non-invasive methods of assessing fibrosis have been developed to reduce the need for biopsy. To perform a review of these non-invasive measures and their ability to replace biopsy for assessing hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic HCV. A systematic review of PUBMED and EMBASE was performed through 2008 using the following search terms: HCV, liver, elastography, hepatitis, Fibroscan, SPECT, noninvasive liver fibrosis, ultrasonography, Doppler, MRI, Fibrotest, Fibrosure, Actitest, APRI, Forns and breath tests, alone or in combination. We identified 151 studies: 87 using biochemical, 57 imaging and seven breath tests either alone or in combination. Great strides are being made in the development of accurate non-invasive methods for determination of fibrosis. Although no single non-invasive test or model developed to date can match that information obtained from actual histology (i.e. inflammation, fibrosis, steatosis), combinations of two modalities of non-invasive methods can reliably differentiate between minimal and significant fibrosis, and thereby avoid liver biopsy in a significant percentage of patients.This publication has 102 references indexed in Scilit:
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