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Diagnosis of the stage of liver fibrosis inchronic hepatitis C is essential for making a prognosis and deciding onantiviral therapy. In the present study a simple model consisting of routinelaboratory tests was constructed and then validated in cross-sectional andlongitudinal investigations. Consecutive treatment-naive patients with chronichepatitis C who had undergone liver biopsy were divided into 2 cohorts: anestimation set (n = 240) and a validation set (n = 120). A longitudinal setconsisted of 30 patients who had undergone a liver biopsy twice, before andafter IFN treatment. The FibroIndex was derived from the platelet count, AST,and gamma globulin measurements in the estimation set. The areas under the ROCcurves of the FibroIndex for predicting significant fibrosis were 0.83 and 0.82for the validation set, better than those of the Forns index and theaminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI). Using the best cutoff values,whether significant fibrosis was present was diagnosed with high positivepredictive values, and 35% of patients could avoid liver biopsy. In thelongitudinal set, there was a significant decrease in the FibroIndex of 14patients whose fibrosis stage improved, and a significant increase in that of 5patients whose fibrosis stage deteriorated. Change in the FibroIndex correlatedsignificantly with variation in fibrosis stage. There was no such correlationwith the Forns index or the APRI. Conclusion: The FibroIndex is a simple andreliable index for predicting significant fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C andcould also be used as a surrogate marker during antifibrotic treatment forchronic hepatitis C. Leggi l'articolo