Non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis in alcoholic liver disease

Aim of the study
To assess the severity of fibrosis in patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) by a non-invasive method (transient elastography – TE).

Material and methods
A cross sectional study was conducted on 130 cases of ALD over a period of 2 years. Upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy and transient elastography were done. Liver fibrosis was staged with the METAVIR system and severity of fibrosis was correlated with complications, duration of alcohol abuse, aspartate transaminase (AST) to platelet ratio index (APRI) and Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score. To establish the relationship between various parameters, Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r) and their associated probability (p) were used.

Results
Distribution in 130 patients according to the METAVIR stage (median liver stiffness measurement [LSM]) was: F0: n = 16 (5.08 kPa); F1: n = 19 (6.6 kPa); F2: n = 9 (9.3 kPa); F3: n = 26 (16.3 kPa) and F4: n = 60 (50.5 kPa) (p < 0.0001). Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) score was significantly correlated with CTP score (r = 0.492, p < 0.0001), APRI (r = 0.435, p < 0.0001), duration of alcohol consumption (r = 0.816, p < 0.0001), presence of ascites (r = 0.756, p < 0.0001), presence of esophageal varices (r = 0.567, p < 0.0001), and presence of variceal bleeding (r = 0.383, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions
TE is an inexpensive and non-invasive modality to assess the severity of liver fibrosis in ALD. It can be used as a good screening tool to identify patients with cirrhosis without the use of invasive liver biopsy, enabling better prognostication for the development of complications.