Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Is Equivalent to Liver Biopsy to Evaluate Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

BACKGROUND Liver biopsy is recommended as the gold standard method for assessing the stage of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease. However, it is invasive, with potential risks and complications. Elastography is an ultrasound technique that provides information of changes in the liver tissue, evaluating tissue elasticity and acoustic radiation force impulse is one of the available techniques. OBJECTIVE The main objective of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of acoustic radiation force impulse comparing to liver biopsy to evaluate fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. METHODS Twenty four patients were included, everyone underwent liver biopsy and acoustic radiation force impulse, and the results were compared with values described in the literature by several authors. RESULTS In the population of patients with chronic hepatitis C, our data were better correlated with data published by Carmen Fierbinteanu-Braticevici et al., with an accuracy of 82.4%, sensitivity of 71.4% and specificity of 90%. For nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, our data were better correlated with data published by Masato Yoneda et al., with an accuracy of 85.7%, sensitivity 80% and specificity of 100%. CONCLUSION Acoustic radiation force impulse is a method with good accuracy to distinguish initial fibrosis from advanced fibrosis in hepatitis C virus and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and can replace biopsy in most cases.