Value of transient elastography and serologic markers of liver fibrosis in diagnosing liver fibrosis in liver transplant patients

HE Xi; YANG Shuo; NIU Zi-chang; TANG Ru-jia; ZHANG Da-li; ZHOU Xia; ZHOU Shuang-nan; SU Hai-bin; LIU Zhen-wen; ZHANG Min

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-8134.2015.04.009

Abstract：Objective To evaluate the value of transient elastography (FibroScan) and four serologic markers of liver fibrosis [hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), collagen type IV (Ⅳ-C) and procollagen type Ⅲ(PCⅢ)] in diagnosis of significant liver fibrosis (F>2) in liver transplant patients. Methods A total of 80 patients with chronic liver disease, who had liver biopsy in our hospital from February 28, 2013 to July 8, 2014, were enrolled in the study, of whom 40 underwent liver transplantation and the others didn't. Liver stiffness was measured by FibroScan and the four serologic markers of liver fibrosis were detected. Correlations between the value of liv-er stiffness measurement (LSM) and the four serologic markers of liver fibrosis and liver fibrosis stages obtained by liver biopsy were ana-lyzed. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to analyze and evaluate the diagnostic value of LSM by FibroScan and the four serologic markers for significa nt liver fibrosis in liver transplant patients. Results HA and LSM value in liver transplant pa-tients were positively correlated with Metavir fibrosis scores, with rs of 0.689 and 0.782, respectively. The areas under ROC curve of di-agnosing significant liver fibrosis with HA and LSM value in liver transplant patients were 0.789 and 0.943, respectively. In patients with significant liver fibrosis, LSM value of patients undergoing liver transplantation was significantly higher than that of patients without undergoing liver transplantation (P<0.05), while in patients with F≤2,Ⅳ-C and PCⅢof patients undergoing liver transplantation were significantly lower than those of patients without undergoing liver transplantation (P<0.05). Conclusions LSM value and HA have positive correlations with Metavir fibrosis scores in liver transplant patients, and can be used to diagnose significant liver fibrosis in liver transplant patients.