Optimization and robustness of blood tests for liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Clinical biochemistry

Calès P, Boursier J, Bertrais S, Oberti F, Gallois Y, Fouchard-Hubert I, Dib N, Zarski JP, Rousselet MC

2010 Clin. Biochem. Volume 43 Issue 16-17

PubMed 20713037 DOI 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2010.08.010

OBJECTIVES

To optimize the performance and feasibility of fibrosis blood tests and evaluate their robustness.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The derivation population included 1056 HCV patients with liver biopsy and blood markers. Validation populations included 984 patients with various viral hepatitis causes, and Fibroscan and/or liver biopsy and/or blood markers.

RESULTS

The bootstrap method validated the markers of the original FibroMeter(2G), but not those of Fibrotest and Hepascore, and provided a hyaluronate-free FibroMeter(3G). AUROCs for significant fibrosis were: FibroMeter(2G): 0.853 vs. FibroMeter(3G): 0.851, p=0.489. Compared to FibroMeter(2G), FibroMeter(3G) had a significantly higher patient rate with predictive values ≥90% for significant fibrosis. Accuracy for fibrosis stage classification was: Fibrotest: 37.9%, FibroMeter(2G): 74.9%, and FibroMeter(3G): 86.9% (p<10(-3)).

CONCLUSION

The bootstrap method validated FibroMeter(2G) and provided a cheaper and more feasible hyaluronate-free FibroMeter(3G) with comparable performance. Compared to binary diagnosis, fibrosis stage classification increased discrimination, with an increased accuracy to 87% for FibroMeter(3G).

Citation Reference:
Calès P, Boursier J, Bertrais S, Oberti F, Gallois Y, Fouchard-Hubert I, Dib N, Zarski JP, Rousselet MC. Optimization and robustness of blood tests for liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Clin. Biochem. 2010;43:16-17.