Comparing the efficiency of Fib ‐4, Egy‐score, APRI, and GUCI in liver fibrosis staging in Egyptians with chronic hepatitis C

Assessment of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C virus patients by liver biopsy is not widely accepted despite its accuracy, being invasive, carrying complications, and adding cost. This paved the way to development and use of non‐invasive markers of fibrosis in diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis. We aimed at evaluating the efficiency of Fib‐4, Egy‐score, Aspartate‐to‐platelet ratio index (APRI), and Göteborg University Cirrhosis Index (GUCI) in comparison to liver biopsy, in the assessment of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C patients. This was a cross sectional study including 200 chronic HCV patients were divided into two groups according to stage of fibrosis (Metavir score) into non‐significant fibrosis (<F2) and significant fibrosis (≥F2). Reference needle liver biopsy was compared to Fib‐4, Egyscore, APRI, and GUCI. Older age (P < 0.001) and higher BMI (P = 0.005) were significantly related to significant fibrosis and positively correlated with fibrosis progression (r = 0.361, P = 0.000, and r = 0.165, P = 0.019 respectively). Fib‐4 >1.27, APRI >0.48, Egy‐score >0.73, and GUCI >0.57 significantly predict significant fibrosis (P < 0.01). Fib‐4 carries the best performance and significant reliability with AUROC 0.783, sensitivity 74%, specificity 69%, PPV 0.55, and NPV 0.86. The addition of BMI to Fib‐4 improved the significant fibrosis AUROC curve performance but did not reach statistical sig...
Source: Journal of Medical Virology - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research