Dynamic evaluation of liver stiffness measurement to improve diagnostic accuracy of liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B acute exacerbation

Abstract

To investigate the dynamic changes of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by FibroScan(®) and improve its diagnostic accuracy, we studied patients with chronic hepatitis B undergoing acute exacerbation. Eighty-nine treatment naïve patients were enrolled, and Fibroscan(®) was performed every 7-10 days during hospitalization and every 1∼3 months for follow-up. Haematology and liver functions were tested in parallel. Liver biopsies were performed in 23 patients. A total of 282 LSMs were performed. LSM was positively correlated with both alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (r = 0.321, P < 0.001) and bilirubin levels (r = 0.626, P < 0.001). Mean reduction in LSMs in patients along with ALT or bilirubin normalization was significantly greater than those without ALT or bilirubin normalization(P = 0.001, P = 0.038, respectively). In 23 patients with initial LSMs in the range usually defined as indicating cirrhosis (i.e.>18.2 kPa), only 5 were diagnosed with cirrhosis by histopathology or ultrasonography. As ALT normalized, LSMs remained over 12.0 kPa in all these 5 patients. However, in 18 other patients without cirrhosis at baseline, LSMs still remained above 12.0kPa in 10 patients and decreased to below 12.0 kPa in the other 8 patients. LSMs decreased in parallel with ALT and bilirubin normalization. LSM performed after ALT and bilirubin normalization may improve the accuracy in diagnosing cirrhosis in patients with exacerbations of hepatitis B.