Reproducibility of transient elastography in the evaluation of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease

Abstract

Transient elastography (TE) is gaining popularity as a non-invasive method for predicting liver fibrosis, but intraobserver and interobserver agreement and factors influencing TE reproducibility have not been adequately assessed. This study investigated these aspects. Tertiary referral liver unit. Over a 4-month period, 200 patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) with varying aetiology consecutively underwent TE and liver biopsy. TE was performed twice by two different operators either concomitantly or within 3 days of the bioptic procedure (METAVIR classification). Intraobserver and interobserver agreement were analysed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and correlated with different patient-related and liver disease-related covariates. 800 TE examinations were performed, with an indeterminate result rate of 2.4%. The overall interobserver agreement ICC was 0.98 (95% CI 0.977 to 0.987). Increased body mass index (>25 kg/m(2)), steatosis, and low staging grades (fibrosis (F) stage 7.9 kPa for F>/=2, >10.3 for F>/=3 and >11.9 for F = 4. TE values assessed by the two raters fell within the same cut-off of fibrosis in 88% of the cases for F>/=2, in 92% for F>/=3 and 91% for F = 4. TE is a highly reproducible and user-friendly technique for assessing liver fibrosis in patients with CLD. However, because TE reproducibility is significantly reduced (p<0.05) in patients with steatosis, increased BMI and lower degrees of hepatic fibrosis, caution is warranted in the clinical use of TE as a surrogate for liver biopsy.