Transient elastography improves detection of liver cirrhosis compared to routine screening tests

AIM:To investigate the diagnostic significance oftransient elastography(TE) in a daily routine clinical setting in comparison to clinical signs,laboratory parameters and ultrasound.METHODS:TE,ultrasound,laboratory parameters and cutaneous liver signs were assessed in 291 consecutive patients with chronic liver disease of various aetiologies who underwent liver biopsy in daily routine.RESULTS:Sensitivity of TE for the detection of liver cirrhosis was 90.4%,compared to 80.1% for ultrasound,58.0% for platelet count and 45.1% for cutaneous liver signs(P < 0.0001 for comparisons with histology).AUROC for TE was 0.760(95%CI:0.694-0.825).Combination of TE with ultrasound increased sensitivity to 96.1% and AUROC to 0.825(95%CI:0.768-0.882).TE correlated with laboratory parameters of cirrhosis progression like albumin(r =-0.43),prothrombin time(r =-0.44),and bilirubin(r = 0.34; P < 0.001 for each).Particularly,in patients with Child Pugh score A or normal platelet count TE improved sensitivity for the detection of liver cirrhosis compared to ultrasound by 14.1%(P < 0.04) and 16.3%(P < 0.02),respectively.CONCLUSION:Transient elastography is superior to routine diagnostic tests allowing detection of liver cirrhosis in additional 10%-16% of patients with chronic liver disease that would have been missed by clinical examinations.