The Influence of Quality of the Liver Biopsy Specimen on the Correlation of Liver Stiffness Measurement by Means of Transient Elastography with Fibrosis

Abstract

PurposeTo evaluate the influence of liver biopsy specimen quality on the correlation between liver stiffness measurements (LSM) by means of FibroScan and the severity of fibrosis.Material & MethodsWe have studied 332 patients with chronic hepatitis C-virus (HCV) hepatitis, mean age 49.8±10 years. In each patient, we performed in the same session liver biopsy and LSM by means of FibroScan. In each patient, 10 LSM were performed, a median value was calculated, expressed in kPa. Only LSM with interquartile range interval (IQR) <30% and success rate (SR) ≥ 60% were considered reliable.ResultsThe distribution of liver fibrosis (Metavir) in the study group was: F0, 3 patients (0.9%); F1, 22 (6.6%); F2, 160 (48.2%); F3, 101 (30.4%); F4, 46 (13.8%). Valid LSM were obtained in 316 patients (95.1%). The average fragment length was 3.35±0.90cm. We obtained the following correlations of LSM with fibrosis according to the fragment's size: <2 cm (5 cases): small number of cases; 2-2.9 cm (81 cases): r = 0.602, p < 0.0001; 3-3.9 cm (101 cases): r = 0.542, p < 0.0001; ≥4 cm (120 cases): r = 0.648, p < 0.0001. There were no significant differences between the correlations in the 3 categories of patients.ConclusionIn our study, the correlation of LSM by means of FibroScan with the severity of fibrosis was not influenced by the fragment size, probably due to the good quality of the specimen in the vast majority of cases (>2cm in 98.3% of the cases). PurposeTo evaluate the influence of liver biopsy specimen quality on the correlation between liver stiffness measurements (LSM) by means of FibroScan and the severity of fibrosis. To evaluate the influence of liver biopsy specimen quality on the correlation between liver stiffness measurements (LSM) by means of FibroScan and the severity of fibrosis. Material & MethodsWe have studied 332 patients with chronic hepatitis C-virus (HCV) hepatitis, mean age 49.8±10 years. In each patient, we performed in the same session liver biopsy and LSM by means of FibroScan. In each patient, 10 LSM were performed, a median value was calculated, expressed in kPa. Only LSM with interquartile range interval (IQR) <30% and success rate (SR) ≥ 60% were considered reliable. We have studied 332 patients with chronic hepatitis C-virus (HCV) hepatitis, mean age 49.8±10 years. In each patient, we performed in the same session liver biopsy and LSM by means of FibroScan. In each patient, 10 LSM were performed, a median value was calculated, expressed in kPa. Only LSM with interquartile range interval (IQR) <30% and success rate (SR) ≥ 60% were considered reliable. ResultsThe distribution of liver fibrosis (Metavir) in the study group was: F0, 3 patients (0.9%); F1, 22 (6.6%); F2, 160 (48.2%); F3, 101 (30.4%); F4, 46 (13.8%). Valid LSM were obtained in 316 patients (95.1%). The average fragment length was 3.35±0.90cm. We obtained the following correlations of LSM with fibrosis according to the fragment's size: <2 cm (5 cases): small number of cases; 2-2.9 cm (81 cases): r = 0.602, p < 0.0001; 3-3.9 cm (101 cases): r = 0.542, p < 0.0001; ≥4 cm (120 cases): r = 0.648, p < 0.0001. There were no significant differences between the correlations in the 3 categories of patients. The distribution of liver fibrosis (Metavir) in the study group was: F0, 3 patients (0.9%); F1, 22 (6.6%); F2, 160 (48.2%); F3, 101 (30.4%); F4, 46 (13.8%). Valid LSM were obtained in 316 patients (95.1%). The average fragment length was 3.35±0.90cm. We obtained the following correlations of LSM with fibrosis according to the fragment's size: <2 cm (5 cases): small number of cases; 2-2.9 cm (81 cases): r = 0.602, p < 0.0001; 3-3.9 cm (101 cases): r = 0.542, p < 0.0001; ≥4 cm (120 cases): r = 0.648, p < 0.0001. There were no significant differences between the correlations in the 3 categories of patients. ConclusionIn our study, the correlation of LSM by means of FibroScan with the severity of fibrosis was not influenced by the fragment size, probably due to the good quality of the specimen in the vast majority of cases (>2cm in 98.3% of the cases). In our study, the correlation of LSM by means of FibroScan with the severity of fibrosis was not influenced by the fragment size, probably due to the good quality of the specimen in the vast majority of cases (>2cm in 98.3% of the cases).