Prediction of hepatic fibrosis by FibroScan and serum markers in chronic hepatitis B patients with mildly elevated alanine transaminase levels

Objective To assess the diagnostic performance of liver stiffness measurement(LSM) and serum markers on hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B(CHB) patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) less than or equal to two times the upper limit of normal(≤2×ULN). Methods A total of 284 CHB patients with ALT≤2×ULN who were treated in Department of Hepatobiliary Medicine, Public Health Clinical Center, Shanghai from October 2015 to December 2017 were analyzed. FibroScan, routine blood tests and serum fibrosis markers were conducted on the day or one day before liver biopsy. The Scheuer scoring system was used for liver histologic assessment. Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ration index (APRI) and FIB-4 were calculated. Based on the results of liver pathology, the area under receiver operating characteristic curve(AUROC) was used to evaluate the value of LSM and serum markers in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis stage. Non-normal distribution variables were expressed as M(QR) as appropriate, and compared by analysis of Kruskal-Wallis test as appropriate. The correlation between two variables was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis. Results Of 284 CHB patients, 175 were male and 109 were female. For inflammatory grading, 175 cases were G1 grade, 88 cases were G2, and 21 cases were G3. For fibrosis grading, 153 cases were S1, 53 cases were S2, 34 cases were S3, and 44 cases were S4. Spearman correlation analysis showed that LSM, APRI and FIB-4 were positively correlated with hepatic fibrosis stage (r=0.650, 0.484, and 0.317, respectively, all P 1-≤2×ULN were 0.857 and 0.813, respectively, those for fibrosis≥S3 were 0.890 and 0.892, respectively, and those for S4 were 0.925 and 0.908, respectively. The cut-off of LSM were 5.90 and 7.80 kPa, 8.10 and 9.50 kPa, 8.40 and 10.40 kPa, respectively. Conclusions LSM could accurately assess the degree of liver fibrosis in CHB patients with ALT≤2×ULN, which is superior to serum markers for predicting liver fibrosis stage. Key words: Hepatitis B, chronic; Liver stiffess measurement; Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ration index; FIB-4