Noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C infection
Hepatic fibrogenesis is a dynamic process that reflects a balance between matrix synthesis and degradation. An accurate determination of hepatic fibrosis is important in determining prognosis, requirement for therapy, and disease progression in chronic hepatitis C infection. Histologic assessment relies on a liver biopsy, an invasive procedure associated with sampling error and inaccurate staging that provides only a semiquantitative and static measure of fibrosis and inflammatory activity. Several noninvasive tools initially developed and validated in chronic hepatitis C patients are now being applied to other chronic liver disease states. These noninvasive approaches include simple and complex serum biochemical marker algorithms, radiologic methods such as elastography, and emerging genomics and proteomics technologies. In the future, the combination of these diagnostic modalities likely will provide a more accurate and reliable measure of disease severity in chronic liver disease patients. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008.
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- 3202 Clinical sciences
- 1116 Medical Physiology
- 1103 Clinical Sciences
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Published In
DOI
EISSN
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- 3202 Clinical sciences
- 1116 Medical Physiology
- 1103 Clinical Sciences