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Evaluation of Histological and non-Invasive Methods for the Detection of Liver Fibrosis: The Values of Histological and Digital Morphometric Analysis, Liver Stiffness Measurement and APRI Score

Pathology & Oncology Research volume 22, pages 1–6 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Prognosis and treatment of liver diseases mainly depend on the precise evaluation of the fibrosis. Comparisons were made between the results of Metavir fibrosis scores and digital morphometric analyses (DMA), liver stiffness (LS) values and aminotransferase-platelet ratio (APRI) scores, respectively. Liver biopsy specimens stained with Sirius red and analysed by morphometry, LS and APRI measurements were taken from 96 patients with chronic liver diseases (56 cases of viral hepatitis, 22 cases of autoimmune- and 18 of mixed origin). The strongest correlation was observed between Metavir score and DMA (r = 0.75 p < 0.05), followed in decreasing order by LS and Metavir (r = 0.61), LS and DMA (r = 0.47) LS and APRI (r = 0.35) and Metavir and APRI (r = 0.24), respectively. DMA is a helpful additional tool for the histopathological evaluation of fibrosis, even when the sample size is small and especially in case of advanced fibrosis. The non-invasive methods showed good correlation with the histopathological methods; LS proved to be more accurate than APRI. The stronger correlation between LS values and Metavir scores, as well as the results of DMA in case of appropriate sample size were remarkable.

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Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank Mrs. Elvira Kálé Rigóné for the English proofreading and Mrs. Tordainé Szabó Hedvig for her technical assistance.

Financial Support

This study was supported by grants OTKA K108548 by the Hungarian National Scientific Research Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Department of Pathology, Semmelweis University, Ulloi str 93, 1091, Budapest, Hungary

    Tünde Halász, András Kiss, István Kenessey, Violetta Piurkó & Zsuzsa Schaff

  2. Department of Pathology, Military Hospital, Budapest, Hungary

    Tünde Halász

  3. Hepatology Center of Buda, Budapest, Hungary

    Gábor Horváth

  4. First Department of Medicine, Medical University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

    Gabriella Pár

  5. St. Istvan and St. Laszlo Hospital, Budapest, Hungary

    Andrea Szombati

  6. Department of Transplantation and Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Fanni Gelley & Balázs Nemes

  7. MTA-SE Tumor Progression Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Zsuzsa Schaff

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  1. Tünde Halász
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  2. Gábor Horváth
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  3. András Kiss
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  7. Balázs Nemes
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  8. István Kenessey
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  9. Violetta Piurkó
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  10. Zsuzsa Schaff
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Correspondence to Zsuzsa Schaff.

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Halász, T., Horváth, G., Kiss, A. et al. Evaluation of Histological and non-Invasive Methods for the Detection of Liver Fibrosis: The Values of Histological and Digital Morphometric Analysis, Liver Stiffness Measurement and APRI Score. Pathol. Oncol. Res. 22, 1–6 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-015-9964-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-015-9964-1

Keywords

  • Liver fibrosis
  • Liver stiffness
  • Digital morphometric analysis
  • Liver biopsy