| Theme |
Cirrhosis -- Recent Progress in Diagnosis and Treatmen |
| Title |
Progress of Non-invasive Diagnosis in Liver Fibrosis |
| Author |
Ryosuke Tateishi |
Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo |
| Author |
Kazuhiko Koike |
Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo |
| [ Summary ] |
Grade of liver fibrosis is considered to be the most important predictor of liver carcinogenesis and various complications related to cirrhosis including ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, and gastroesophageal variceal bleeding. Many biomarkers such as platelet count and serum fibrosis indicators or indices using those markers have been proposed as substitutes for liver biopsy. More recently, various procedures known as "elastography", using ultrasonography or magnetic resonance have been developed to measure liver rigidity. Transient elastography (TE) has been proven to be effective in predicting liver cancer development in a cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis C. Because TE can be used to discriminate the risk of cancer development in patients with cirrhosis, it may be superior to liver biopsies in terms of the risk stratification. |