| Theme | The Forefront of Hepatitis C Treatment | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Liver Stiffness for Assessment of Fibrosis Stage in Chronic Hepatitis C | |
| Publish Date | 2012/10 | |
| Author | Naoto Kawabe | Department of Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas Diseases, Fujita Health University School of Medicine |
| Author | Senju Hashimoto | Department of Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas Diseases, Fujita Health University School of Medicine |
| Author | Masao Harata | Department of Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas Diseases, Fujita Health University School of Medicine |
| Author | Yuko Arima | Department of Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas Diseases, Fujita Health University School of Medicine |
| Author | Toru Nishikawa | Department of Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas Diseases, Fujita Health University School of Medicine |
| Author | Kentaro Yoshioka | Department of Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas Diseases, Fujita Health University School of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] | Transient elastography (TE ; Fibroscan), acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) and real-time tissue elastography (RTE) are methods for measuring liver stiffness (LS). These methods produce very good or excellent diagnostic accuracy for the assessment of liver fibrosis stage due to chronic hepatitis C. These non-invasive methods for the assessment of liver fibrosis stage do not provide information on inflammatory activity, steatosis, iron deposition or other findings derived from liver biopsies. They do not give us an estimation completely corresponding to that of liver biopsies or fibrosis stage. In addition, the value of LS may be affected by factors other than fibrosis stage, for example, inflammatory activity, steatosis and intrahepatic pressure. However, these non-invasive methods for the assessment of liver fibrosis stage provide us with useful clinical information similar to that liver biopsies can provide. This information includes the appropriate time to initiate antiviral therapy, prediction of response to antiviral therapy, evaluation of effects of antiviral therapy, and assessment of the natural course of chronic hepatitis C. | |