OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical application and related factors of FibroTouch in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease through comparison of the specificity and sensitivity of FibroTouch and multi-parameter models, and to identify whether FibroTouch is a more accurate and safe method in diagnosis of liver fibrosis and evaluation of the therapeutic effect.

METHODSA total of 190 patients with chronic liver disease were performed liver biopsy and underwent liver stiffness measurement (LSM) using FibroTouch in department of Traditional and Western Medical Hepatology, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2014 to February 2015. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBIL) were tested by enzymic method with automatic biochemistry analyzer. Blood platelet counts were detected by automatic blood cell analyzer. AST-to-PLT ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis index based on the 4 factor (FIB-4) were calculated. The diagnostic values of FibroTouch, APRI and FIB-4 for liver fibrosis degree were calculated and compared by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The related factors of LSM were analyzed by Spearman analysis.

RESULTSThere was significant correlation between LSM and histological fibrosis (r=0.804, P=0.000). The area under ROC curve of LSM for S(≥2, S≥3 and S=4 was 0.894, 0.938 and 0.961, respectively, which was significantly higher than APRI (0.678, 0.698 and 0.658) and FIB-4 (0.765, 0.785 and 0.775). On Spearman analysis, LSM was positively correlated with age, ALT, AST, TBIL ((≥2×ULN) and the grade of liver inflammation (r=0.309, 0.558, 0.504, 0.492 and 0.532, respectively) but negatively with PLT (r=-0.444), (all P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSLSM is a convenient and reliable approach for diagnosis of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease. The sensitivity and specificity of Fibrotouch in diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis is superior to APRI and FIB-4, and age, high level ofALT, AST and TBIL (≥2×ULN) were independent predictors of LSM inaccuracy.

Alanine Transaminase ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Bilirubin ; Biomarkers ; Biopsy ; Chronic Disease ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Platelet Count ; ROC Curve

Objective To investigate the clinical features of drug-induced autoimmune hepatitis (DIAIH) and its therapeutic strategies,and to provide a reference for early diagnosis and treatment of this disease and prevention of chronicity.Methods The clinical data of 116 patients with drug-induced liver injury (DILI) or DIAIH confirmed by medical history,liver biochemistry,and liver biopsy were analyzed retrospectively.Among these patients,13 had DIAIH and 103 had simple DILI (30 patients in the hepatocytetype group and 73 in the cholestasis/mixed-type group).The population characteristics,major drugs inducing the diseases,clinical manifestations,liver biochemical parameters,liver pathological features,and clinical outcome were compared between groups.The Kruskal-wallis H test was used for comparison and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison between any two groups.The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data,and the R×C chi-square test was used for comparison of rates between the three groups;in the case of significant differences,the R×C contingency table was used for comparison between any two groups.Results The patients with DIAIH had a mean age of 53.54±8.28 years,and the mean age was 35.13±13.46 and 46.99±14.82 years for the hepatocyte-type group and cholestasis/mixedtype group,respectively.The disease was mainly induced by a combination of various drugs.The patients with DIAIH had significantly higher serum levels of alanine aminotransferase,aspartate aminotransferase,γ-glutamyltransferase,and alkaline phosphatase and a significantly higher positive rate of anti-nuclear antibody than those with DILI (all P ＜ 0.05).In patients with DIAIH,the liver pathological features and the features of response to treatment were as follows:obvious interface hepatitis,proliferation of small bile ducts,and mixed inflammatory cell infiltration in the portal area,including eosinophils and plasma cells,and the short-term corticosteroid therapy had a good therapeutic effect.Conclusion DIAIH has a low incidence and is more common in the female population,with the features of tissue injury in both DILI and autoimmune hepatitis.The short-term corticosteroid therapy can prevent disease progression and reduce chronicity.