Abstract
Objective: To compare the clinical value of FibroScan, FIB-4, APRI and AAR diagnosing hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers. Methods: A total of 213 patients with chronic HBV carriers diagnosed by clinical and liver biopsy were selected. And according to HBeAg status, 149 patients were divided into HBeAg-positive group and 64 patients were divided into HBeAg-negative group. The liver stiffness measurements (LSM) was measured by FibroScan (FS), FIB-4, APRI and AAR values were calculated using FIB-4, APRI and AAR formula. And all patients underwent liver biopsy in the same period. According to the degree of hepatic fibrosis in Knodell, one decision point was set: significant hepatic fibrosis (S ≥ 2). The Spearman correlation analysis method was used to analyze the correlation of indicators and the area under receiver operator characteristic curves (AUROCs) of LSM, FIB-4, APRI and AAR were drawn according to liver biopsy pathology results as gold standard. The value of LSM, FIB-4, APRI and AAR diagnosing hepatic fibrosis in chronic HBV carriers was retrospectively analyzed. Retrospective analysis of FS, FIB-4, APRI and AAR were divided into 149 HBeAg-positive chronic HBV carriers (HBeAg-positive group) and 64 HBeAg-negative chronic HBV carriers (HBeAg) in 213 patients with chronic HBV carriers and HBeAg Negative group) in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. Results: The LSM of 213 patients with chronic HBV carriers, 149 patients with HBeAg-positive chronic HBV carriers and 64 patients with HBeAg-negative chronic HBV carriers were significantly correlated with liver fibrosis grade≥ 2 (P < 0.001). Regardless of HBeAg status, only LSM in the three groups had moderate evaluation efficacy for evaluating significant fibrosis(S≥2), and the positive predictive value was more than 94%, but the diagnostic accuracy was not high, the minimum was 46.31% (HBeAg-positive group), the maximum value of 67.19% (HBeAg-negative group), while the remaining three kinds of serum noninvasive liver fibrosis diagnostic model indicators and diagnostic efficacy are low. The LSM in the three groups showed a significant positive correlation with liver fibrosis grade (S)≥2. Conclusion: LSM is more accurate than FIB-4, APRI and AAR in diagnosing chronic HBV carriers. Dynamically monitoring changes of LSM can earlier understand the progress of liver fibrosis than the three kinds of serology noninvasive diagnostic model and is contributed to the choice of liver biopsy timing.