Diagnostic value of ultrasound elastography combined with APRI in liver fibrosis of patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease
QIU Yansheng
XIE Weining
LI Caiyan
LI Xinyan
DONG Meiqiu
Abstract：Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of ultrasound elastography combined with the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index(APRI)for liver fibrosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease(MAFLD).Methods A total of 163 MAFLD patients admitted between July 2022 and June 2024 were enrolled.Based on the Fibrosis-4 Index(FIB-4),patients were categorized into mild(n=51,FIB-4＜1.3),moderate(n=63,FIB-4:1.3-2.67),and severe(n=49,FIB-4＞2.67)fibrosis groups.All patients underwent transient elastography(TE)and real-time shear wave elastography(SWE)to measure liver stiffness and elastic modulus value.APRI was calculated based on aspartate aminotransferase and platelet levels.Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between liver stiffness measurement(LSM),liver elastic modulus values,and the severity of liver fibrosis.The diagnostic performance of ultrasound elastography combined with APRI for severe MAFLD-related fibrosis was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves.Results LSM,liver elastic modulus values,and APRI were higher in the severe group than in the moderate and mild groups,and higher in the moderate group than in the mild group(P＜0.05).LSM and liver elastic modulus value showed positive correlations with the severity of liver fibrosis(rs=0.724,0.614,P＜0.05).The areas under the ROC curve(AUC)for LSM,liver elastic modulus values,and APRI in diagnosing the severity of liver fibrosis in MAFLD were 0.808,0.869,and 0.828,respectively.The combined diagnostic model of LSM,liver elastic modulus values,and APRI achieved an AUC of 0.894,which was significantly higher than that of each individual parameter(P＜0.05).Conclusion LSM,liver elastic modulus values,and APRI increase with the the severity of liver fibrosis in MAFLD.The combination of ultrasound elastography and APRI demonstrates.
Keywords：metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver diseaseliver fibrosisultrasound elastographytransient elastographyreal-time shear wave elastographyaspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index
Publication Date：2025-12-28
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-16(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 62-68 )