| Theme |
Liver Fibrosis : Beyond the Diagnosis |
| Title |
Scoring Systems for the Evaluation of Hepatic Fibrosis in Chronic Liver Disease |
| Author |
Masafumi Ono |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kochi Medical School |
| Author |
Yoshio Sumida |
Division of Hepatology and Pancreatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Aichi Medical University |
| Author |
Tsunehiro Ochi |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kochi Medical School |
| Author |
Kensuke Munekage |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kochi Medical School |
| Author |
Toshiji Saibara |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kochi Medical School |
| [ Summary ] |
The evaluation of hepatic fibrosis is important in patients with chronic liver disease, because advanced hepatic fibrosis is closely related to unfavorable prognosis such as the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Scoring system for evaluation of hepatic fibrosis are constituted by some factors which are affected in the advanced chronic liver diseases and liver cirrhosis. Specifically, scoring systems that are based on simple factors such as blood tests, age, and BMI, among others are popular and useful. The FIB-4 index and the APRI are useful scoring systems in patients with chronic liver diseases. Additionally, several unique scoring systems including the NAFLD fibrosis score and the BARD score have been reported for the evaluation of hepatic fibrosis in patients with NAFLD. Therefore, it is expected that such simple scoring systems would be useful for the evaluation of hepatic fibrosis in routine clinical practice. |