Noninvasive diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis

Diagnosis and Quantitation of Fibrosis

“…It has been validated in patients with a variety of chronic liver diseases but particularly in patients with alcoholic liver disease. 24,64 Its accuracy for detecting cirrhosis has been reported to range from 66% to 72%. 24,63 …”

“…In viral and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an AST/ALT ratio of Ͼ1 is often associated with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. 24,49,80,81 ␥GT and prothrombin index are markers of progressive liver fibrosis and can be used to predict more advanced fibrosis. These indirect biomarkers simply reflect abnormalities of hepatic structure or function and do not reflect ECM turnover.…”

Non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C

“…These include: glycoproteins, such as serum hyaluronate [13][14][15][16][17], laminin [18,19], and YKL-40 [20]; the collagens family, such as procollagen III N-peptide (PIIINP) [13] and type IV collagen [21]; collagenases and their inhibitors, such as matrix metalloproteases (MMP) [22] and tissue inhibitory metalloprotease-1 (TIMP-1) [23].…”

“…''Indirect'' serum markers including simple routine blood tests, such as prothrombin index [19], platelet count [24], and AST/ALT ratio [25][26][27] have also been proposed.…”

Two-year impact of praziquantel treatment for Schistosoma japonicum infection in China: re-infection, subclinical disease and fibrosis marker measurements

“…Decreases in the thickness of portal vein walls and in echogenic bands have been detected after praziquantel therapy (HOMEIDA et al, 1988;DOEHRING-SCHWERDTFEGER et al, 1989: OH-MAE et al, 1992WIEST et al, 1993;CAI>~ al., i997;GERSPACHER-LARA et aI, 1997;BOISIER et al, 1998). Assay of serum levels of fibrosis markers may be a useful supplementary tool for monitoring changes in liver fibrosis (SHAHIN et aZ., 1992;KARDORFF et al, 1997;OBERTI et al, 1997;ESTERRE et al, 1998;RICARD-BLUM et al, 1999).…”