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Diagnostic Accuracy of Transient Elastography for Detecting Liver Fibrosis After Liver Trannsplantation: A Specific Cut-Off Value Is Really Needed?

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Abstract

Introduction

Liver transplant recipients often perform liver biopsy (LB), specially in the context of potentially recurring diseases, such as hepatitis C infection. However, the LB has risks of complications, despite being the gold standard. Transient elastography (TE) is a noninvasive method comparable to the LB to evaluate liver fibrosis in various settings, but its accuracy among transplant recipients is not fully understood.

Objective

To determine the accuracy of TE in liver transplant recipients compared with LB to successfully predict liver fibrosis.

Patients and Methods

Patients who underwent liver transplantation at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein from 2010 to 2012 and presented with LB indication were also subjected to TE at the time of LB. The medium value of ten successful measurements was kept as a representative of the liver stiffness. The definition of cut-off points was made to ensure specificity of ≥90 % for all fibrosis stages (F0–F4).

Results

LB was performed in 267 patients. TE was not analyzed in only 8 (3 %) due to an elevated body mass index. The optimal liver stiffness cut-off value and diagnostic performance were 8.1 kPa for F ≥ 1, 12.3 kPa for F ≥ 2, 15.1 for F ≥ 3, and 16.7 for F = 4 for all patients and were 8.1 kPa for F ≥ 1, 12.3 kPa for F ≥ 2, 16.5 for F ≥ 3, and 17.6 for F = 4 for patients with hepatitis C.

Conclusions

TE demonstrated good performance in defining cut-off points for fibrosis on liver histology observed in transplant recipients. The TE can be considered an alternative to LB in post-liver transplantation.

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Abbreviations

AUC:

Area under the curve

BMI:

Body mass index

HCV:

Hepatitis C virus

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

LB:

Liver biopsy

LF:

Liver fibrosis

LSM:

Liver stiffness measurement

NLR:

Negative likelihood ratio

NPV:

Negative predictive value

PLR:

Positive likelihood ratio

PPV:

Positive predictive value

ROC:

Receiver operating characteristic

TE:

Transient elastography

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Elivane da Silva Victor, Ph.D., for assistance with the statistical analysis. The liver transplantation unit of the Einstein Transplantation Program is supported by the Programa de Desenvolvimento Institucional do Sistema Único de Saúde (PROADI-SUS) as a result of a partnership between the Sociedade Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein and the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

Author’s contribution

Dr. Della-Guardia contributed to design, data collection, analysis, writing, and review of the manuscript. Dr. Evangelista and Dr. Felga collected the data. Dr. Marins helped in histological analysis. Drs. Almeida and Salvalaggio contributed to review of the data and manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liver Transplant Unit, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Av Albert Einstein, 627, Building A1, Room 112, São Paulo, SP, 05652-900, Brazil

    B. Della-Guardia, A. S. Evangelista, G. E. Felga, L. V. Marins, P. R. Salvalaggio & M. D. Almeida

Authors
  1. B. Della-Guardia
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  2. A. S. Evangelista
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  3. G. E. Felga
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  4. L. V. Marins
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  5. P. R. Salvalaggio
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  6. M. D. Almeida
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to B. Della-Guardia.

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The authors do not have any commercial and financial connection that can pose a conflict of interest to the findings of this manuscript.

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Della-Guardia, B., Evangelista, A.S., Felga, G.E. et al. Diagnostic Accuracy of Transient Elastography for Detecting Liver Fibrosis After Liver Trannsplantation: A Specific Cut-Off Value Is Really Needed?. Dig Dis Sci 62, 264–272 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-016-4349-1

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