Chronic liver disease has multiple causes, many of which are increasing in prevalence. The final common pathway of chronic liver disease is tissue destruction and attempted regeneration, a pathway that triggers fibrosis and eventual cirrhosis. Assessment of fibrosis is important not only for diagnosis but also for management, prognostic evaluation, and follow-up of patients with chronic liver d...

Chronic liver disease has multiple causes, many of which are increasing in prevalence. The final common pathway of chronic liver disease is tissue destruction and attempted regeneration, a pathway that triggers fibrosis and eventual cirrhosis. Assessment of fibrosis is important not only for diagnosis but also for management, prognostic evaluation, and follow-up of patients with chronic liver d...

The ability to evaluate liver stiffness non-invasively in clinical practice by measuring transient elastography using FibroScan(®) has resulted in considerable interest and enthusiasm. A core study group, organized by the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver, has assessed the usefulness of FibroScan(®) in the diagnosis and management of liver disease in clinical practice. The group co...

Liver fibrosis evaluation is very important for treatment and prognosis in patients with chronic liver disease. The "gold-standard" method for liver fibrosis assessment is still considered to be the liver biopsy, but in the last years non-invasive methods have increasingly been used, especially ultrasound based elastographic ones. The oldest and the only validated elastographic method for non-i...

AIMS To assess the value of transient elastography for predicting significant fibrosis or cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis B or C (CHB or CHC) patients. METHODS 75 patients (CHB: 45, CHC: 32) were included. All underwent elastography and liver biopsy concurrently. Biopsies were evaluated using Ishak's classification. Fibrosis was mild, moderate or severe/cirrhosis when scores were 0-1 (n = 30),...

Chronic liver disease represents a major public health problem, accounting for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. As prognosis and management depend mainly on the amount and progression of liver fibrosis, accurate quantification of liver fibrosis is essential for therapeutic decision-making and follow-up of chronic liver diseases. Even though liver biopsy is the gold standard for ev...