Methods for non-invasive determination of advancement of liver fibrosis

Czech version

Authors: M. Koula; M. Hrůzová; D. Harmáček; P. Hříbek; A. Černá; D. Dvořáková; P. Urbánek
Authors‘ workplace: Interní klinika 1. LF UK a ÚVN Praha
Published in: Gastroent Hepatol 2016; 70(2): 118-124
Category: Hepatology: Review article
doi: https://doi.org/10.14735/amgh2016118

Overview

Prognosis, care, and treatment of chronic liver diseases greatly depend on the degree and rate of progression of hepatic fibrosis. For many years, histological evaluation has been the gold standard for measuring the advancement of liver fibrosis. Liver biopsy is an invasive method, the serial repetition of which in a single patient raises a number of problematic issues, including ethical ones. Therefore, much effort has been devoted to finding a non-invasive procedure. A very promising method in recent years involves the evaluation of liver elasticity. These elastography-based methods use shear waves propagating through hepatic tissues to measure liver elasticity. The principle of elastography itself has been known for many decades, but has only been applied in the last decade in the development of devices capable of providing a diagnosis in hepatology.

Key words:
liver fibrosis – cirrhosis – elastography – Fibroscan^® – shear-waves

The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study.

The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE „uniform requirements“ for biomedical papers.

Submitted:
15. 3. 2016

Accepted:
2. 4. 2016

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