Non-invasive assessment of hepatic fibrosis by tissue strain imaging in chronic hepatitis C patients

Abstract

The development of fibrosis in hepatitis C patients is associated with increased rates of liver cancer. Assessing hepatic fibrosis during interferon treatment for chronic hepatitis C is thus an important factor in treatment planning. Complications such as bleeding may occur in association with liver biopsy and there are also some reports of sampling error [1,2]. In recent years, however, a number of studies looking at noninvasive means of assessing hepatic fibrosis have appeared in the literature [3-5]. The present study was conducted to determine whether it would be possible to apply an easily performed technique of myocardial examination to hepatic fibrosis. We have already documented our findings for strain rate imaging used to differentiate the normal condition, chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver identified by diagnostic imaging and haematology data [6]. In this study, patients identified by liver biopsy were investigated, and a comparative investigation with several fibrosis markers was carried out.