FibroScan Detection of Fatty Liver/Liver Fibrosis in 2266 Cases of Chronic Hepatitis B

Background and Aims:FibroScan is used to determine liver stiffness and controlled attenuation parameter (referred to as CAP) scores in patients, including those with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). We used FibroScan to detect the incidence of fatty liver and fibrosis in CHB patients, and to assess the correla-tion of FibroScan measurements with blood chemistry tests. Methods: CHB patients enrolled in this study were divided independently for three separate analyses (of fibrosis, cirrho-sis, and fatty liver) based on FibroScan results. Basic infor-mation, blood chemistry test results, liver fibrosis parameters, and FibroScan results were collected. T-tests and Pearson's analyses were used to analyze the correlations between FibroScan liver stiffness measurement/CAP values and liver function, blood fat, uric acid metabolite, fibrosis, and hepatitis B virus load. Results:A total of 2266 CHB pa-tients were enrolled in the study and divided into three groups:non-significant and significant fibrosis;non-cirrhosis and early cirrhosis;and non-fatty and fatty liver. Spearman's statistical analyses showed that liver stiffness measurement or CAP values correlated with sex (r=0.137), age (r=0.119), glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (r=0.082), glutamic-oxalo-acetic transaminase (r=–0.172), gamma-glutamyltransfer-ase (r=0.225), albumin (r=0.150), globulin (r=–0.107), total bilirubin (r=–0.132), direct bilirubin (r=–0.145), white blood cell count (r=0.254), hemoglobin (r=0.205), platelets (r=0.206), total cholesterol (r=0.214), high density lipopro-tein (r=–0.243), low density lipoprotein (r=0.255), apolipo-protein B (r=0.217), hyaluronic acid (r=–0.069), laminin (r=–0.188), procollagen type IV (r=–0.067)and hepatitis B viral DNA load (r=–0.216). Conclusions: FibroScan is a non-invasive device that can detect the occurrence of fatty liver or liver fibrosis in CHB patients.