Comparison of two-dimensional shear wave elastography, magnetic resonance elastography, and three serum markers for diagnosing fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND:

: Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE), magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), aspartate transaminase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis index based on 4 factors (FIB-4) and King's score have been proposed for diagnosing liver fibrosis.

METHODS:

Literature databases were searched until October 1st, 2020. The summary area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), the summary diagnostic odds ratios, and the summary sensitivities and specificities were used to assess the diagnostic performance of these non-invasive methods for staging fibrosis.

RESULTS:

: Our final data contained 72 studies. The overall mean prevalence of significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis was 58.3%, 36.2% and 20.5%, respectively, in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. For imaging techniques (2D-SWE and MRE), the summary AUROCs were 0.89 and 0.97, 0.95 and 0.97, and 0.94 and 0.97 for significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis, and cirrhosis, respectively. The summary AUROCs using APRI and FIB-4 for detecting significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis were 0.76 and 0.75, 0.74 and 0.77, 0.77 and 0.82, respectively. The summary AUROCs of King's score for detecting significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were 0.77 and 0.83, respectively.

CONCLUSION:

MRE and 2D-SWE may show the best diagnostic accuracy for predicting fibrosis in CHB. Among the three serum markers, King's score may be more useful for diagnosing fibrosis.