Author/Authors :
pierre Zarski, Jean Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology - Digi-DUne Research Center - Grenoble University Hospital - Medical officer of the pole - Grenoble, France
Abstract :
At present, liver biopsy is still the standard in assessing
liver fibrosis, especially in patients with chronic viral
hepatitis. However, biopsy is invasive and carries the risk
of serious complications. In addition, the accuracy of liver
biopsy is limited as a result of intra- and interobserver
variability and sampling error. Several noninvasive direct
and indirect serum markers (such as Fibrotest®, Fibrometer
®, and Hepascore®) have been developed and
proposed for the noninvasive prediction of significant
fibrosis and cirrhosis, especially in patients with chronic
hepatitis C (1). These methods have been validated in naïve
patients with chronic hepatitis C but have been proposed
for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis
B, alcohol cirrhosis, and nASH.