Abstract

Our study consisted of 3 different parts:
1)We assessed the value of transient elastography (TE) for predicting the stage of fibrosis. Liver biopsy and TE were performed in 74 consecutive patients with chronic viral hepatitis. The areas under the ROC curve for the prediction of significant fibrosis (≥F3) or cirrhosis (F≥5) were 0.88 and 0.99, respectively. TE resulted suitable for the identification of patients with significant fibrosis and cirrhosis.
2)We assessed if liver tissue alterations other than fibrosis may have an impact on TE measurement. We evaluated 7 patients consecutively admitted for acute viral hepatitis. In each patient ALT, AST, blirubin and TE measurements were performed during the course of acute hepatitis. In all patients a progressive significant reduction in TE values was observed in the follow-up period in parallel with the reduction of AST, ALT and bilirubin levels. TE does not represent a reliable instrument to detect the presence of advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with acute hepatitis.
3)We assessed if dialysis may have an impact on TE measurements. TE was performed in 27 patients before and after dialysis. TE measurement was correlated with ALT and γGT before and after dialysis. The reduction of liver stiffness after dialysis was nearly statistically significant in chronic hepatitis C patients, with a mean reduction of 2.9 kPa. Dialysis could affect TE measurements.

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