In:
Journal of Clinical Medicine, MDPI AG, Vol. 8, No. 12 ( 2019-12-02), p. 2101-
Abstract:
Background: Accurate assessment of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic HBeAg-negative Hepatitis B is of crucial importance not only to predict the long-term clinical course, but also to evaluate antiviral therapy indication. The aim of this study was to prospectively assess the utility of point shear wave elastography (pSWE) for longitudinal non-invasive fibrosis assessment in a large cohort of untreated patients with chronic HBeAg-negative hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Methods: 407 consecutive patients with HBeAg-negative HBV infection who underwent pSWE, transient elastography (TE) as well as laboratory fibrosis markers, including fibrosis index based on four factors (FIB-4), aspartate to platelet ratio index (APRI) and FibroTest, on the same day were prospectively followed up for six years. Patients were classified into one of the three groups: inactive carriers (IC; HBV-DNA 〈 2000 IU/mL and ALT 〈 40 U/L); grey zone group 1 (GZ-1; HBV DNA 〈 2000 IU/mL and ALT 〉 40 U/L); grey zone group 2 (GZ-2; HBV-DNA 〉 2000 IU/mL and ALT 〈 40 U/L). Results: pSWE results were significantly correlated with TE (r = 0.29, p 〈 0.001) and APRI (r = 0.17; p = 0.005). Median pSWE values did not differ between IC, GZ-1 and GZ-2 patients (p = 0.82, p = 0.17, p = 0.34). During six years of follow-up, median pSWE and TE values did not differ significantly over time (TE: p = 0.27; pSWE: p = 0.05). Conclusion: Our data indicate that pSWE could be useful for non-invasive fibrosis assessment and follow-up in patients with HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2077-0383
Language:
English
Publisher:
MDPI AG
Publication Date:
2019
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2662592-1
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