Published online Feb 14, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i6.737
Peer-review started: November 8, 2017
First decision: November 21, 2017
Revised: December 5, 2017
Accepted: January 1, 2018
Article in press: January 1, 2018
Published online: February 14, 2018
Processing time: 90 Days and 13.6 Hours
To investigate the performance of transient elastography (TE) for diagnosis of fibrosis in patients with autoimmune hepatitis-primary biliary cholangitis (AIH-PBC) overlap syndrome.
A total of 70 patients with biopsy-proven AIH-PBC overlap syndrome were included. Spearman correlation test was used to analyze the correlation of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and fibrosis stage. Independent samples Student’s t-test or one-way analysis of variance was used to compare quantitative variables. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was used to calculate the optimal cut-off values of LSM for predicting individual fibrosis stages. A comparison on the diagnostic accuracy for severe fibrosis was made between LSM and other serological scores.
Patients with AIH-PBC overlap syndrome had higher median LSM than healthy controls (11.3 ± 6.4 kPa vs 4.3 ± 1.4 kPa, P < 0.01). LSM was significantly correlated with fibrosis stage (r = 0.756, P < 0.01). LSM values increased gradually with an increased fibrosis stage. The areas under the ROC curves of LSM for stages F ≥ 2, F ≥ 3, and F4 were 0.837 (95%CI: 0.729-0.914), 0.910 (0.817-0.965), and 0.966 (0.893-0.995), respectively. The optimal cut-off values of LSM for fibrosis stages F ≥ 2, F ≥ 3, and F4 were 6.55, 10.50, and 14.45 kPa, respectively. LSM was significantly superior to fibrosis-4, glutaglumyl-transferase/platelet ratio, and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index scores in detecting severe fibrosis (F ≥ 3) (0.910 vs 0.715, P < 0.01; 0.910 vs 0.649, P < 0.01; 0.910 vs 0.616, P < 0.01, respectively).
TE can accurately detect hepatic fibrosis as a non-invasive method in patients with AIH-PBC overlap syndrome.
Core tip: Our research determined that transient elastography can accurately detect hepatic fibrosis as a non-invasive method in patients with autoimmune hepatitis-primary biliary cholangitis overlap syndrome. Liver stiffness measurements were significantly superior to fibrosis-4, glutaglumyl-transferase/platelet ratio, and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index scores for detecting severe fibrosis.