Usefulness of liver fibrosis markers ELF in chronic hepatitis

Abstract

We evaluated the usefulness of the enhanced liver fibrosis panel (ELF, ADVIA Centaur^®), the new method to assess liver fibrosis using serum fibrosis markers in patients with chronic hepatitis, and compared the result with other serological fibrosis markers. 338 patients with chronic hepatitis were included. ELF score, which consists of hyaluronic acid, procollagen type III propeptide (PIIIP) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase -1 (TIMP-1) was F0; 8.6±1.0, F1; 9.0±0.9, F2; 9.9±1.3, F3; 10.8±1.1, F4; 11.3±0.9, and increased with the development of fibrosis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis was 0.867 and showed good diagnostic accuracy (p<0.001). The ELF score is a useful noninvasive tool for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis stage in patients with chronic hepatitis.