Clinical Application of Non-invasive Diagnosis for Hepatic Fibrosis

Korean J Hepatol > Volume 13(2); 2007 > Article

The Korean Journal of Hepatology 2007;13(2): 129-137.

Clinical Application of Non-invasive Diagnosis for Hepatic Fibrosis

Sung Won Cho , Jae Youn Cheong

Gastroenterology Department, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea

ABSTRACT

Progressive hepatic fibrosis with development of cirrosis is a feature of chronic liver disease. Assessing fibrosis is important for predicting disease progression and patient management. Liver biopsy is the current gold standard for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. However, liver biopsy is an invasive procedure. Alternative non-invasive methods have been developed. Serum markers are useful in predicting liver cirrhosis, but accuracy of serum markers is not satisfactory in the assessment of fibrosis. Newly developed transient elastography (Fibroscan) is a non-invasive method of measuring liver stiffness. Fibroscan has been reported to be superior in early detection of cirrhosis to serum markers. Factors influencing it’s performance are not fully investigated. The evaluation of new tests should be continued to perform. (Korean J Hepatol 2007;13:129-137)

KeyWords: Hepatic fibrosis; Diagnosis; Liver cirrhosis