Chen JL, Hou YX, Liu Y, Jiang YY, Wang XB. Real-world performance of transient elastography in assessing advanced fibrosis in Chinese patients with primary biliary cholangitis. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(41): 111256 [PMID: 41257279 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i41.111256]
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08628847
Submitted on:
November 13, 2025, 07:28
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Reader Comments:
As a clinician, I found this study highly relevant and practical. The use of VCTE to assess liver fibrosis in PBC patients offers a non-invasive, reliable alternative to liver biopsies, which is a huge advantage in daily practice. The dual cut-off approach for diagnosing advanced fibrosis seems useful, providing clear thresholds that can guide treatment decisions without the need for invasive procedures. However, the grey area (10-14.5 kPa) remains a challenge, and it would be helpful to have additional tools or markers for better decision-making in these cases. Overall, this study offers a valuable, non-invasive method for fibrosis assessment, but more research on managing patients in the grey zone would be beneficial.
Reader's ID:
08549003
Submitted on:
November 11, 2025, 17:38
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Reader Comment Standards for Published Articles:
1 Title
Does the title reflect the main subject/hypothesis of the manuscript?
2 Abstract
Does the abstract summarize and reflect the work described in the manuscript?
3 Key Words
Do the key words reflect the focus of the manuscript?
4 Background
Does the manuscript adequately describe the background, present status and significance of the study?
5 Methods
Does the manuscript describe methods (e.g., experiments, data analysis, surveys, and clinical trials, etc.) in adequate detail?
6 Results
Are the research objectives achieved by the experiments used in this study?
Has the study made meaningful contributions towards research progress in this field?
7 Discussion
Does the manuscript interpret the findings adequately and appropriately, highlighting the key points concisely, clearly and logically?
Are the findings and their applicability/relevance to the literature stated in a clear and definite manner?
Is the Discussion accurate and does it discuss the paper’s scientific significance and/or relevance to clinical practice sufficiently?
8 Illustrations and Tables
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9 Biostatistics
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11 References
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Does the author self-cite, omit, incorrectly cite and/or over-cite references?
12 Quality of manuscript organization and presentation
Is the manuscript concisely and coherently organized and presented?
Are the style, language and grammar accurate and appropriate?
13 Ethics statements
For all manuscripts involving human studies and/or animal experiments, author(s) must submit the related formal ethics documents that were reviewed and approved by their local ethical review committee. Did the manuscript meet the requirements of ethics?
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Reader Comments:
Transient Elastography is an easy, bedside, non-invasive test for assessing liver fibrosis. PBC is a condition for which earlier diagnosis and treatment are associated with a better prognosis. So, evaluating Fibrosis has important diagnostic and therapeutic implications in PBC. However, studies on TE in PBC are limited to Asian settings, and the study by Jia-Liang Chen provides important data in this subset. In this retrospective study, they compared TE with the gold-standard findings of liver biopsy. They showed that TE is highly accurate for diagnosing Advanced fibrosis, and LSM has outperformed other fibrotic markers in ROC curves. Furthermore, they have classified patients with LSM into early, indeterminate, and late stages based on the LSM cut-off; these stages may have future prognostic significance. Future Prospective observational studies can be conducted to assess changes in LSM with treatment, disease progression, or complications.