Fibrofast and Fibrosis-4 versus Fibroscan as Indicators of Hepatic Fibrosis in Non Alcholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Aims:Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a broad category for a disease spectrum that includes simple steatosis, which can proceed to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and, finally, hepatocellular carcinoma. Due to the invasive nature of liver biopsy, non-invasive diagnostic tools were required.Objective: To compare the performance of simple biochemical scores (fibroblast) FIB-5 and (fibrosis-4) FIB-4 with fibroscan to differentiate mild to moderate fibrosis (MF; F0 to F2) from advanced fibrosis (AF; F3 to F4) in patients with NAFLD.Patients and methods:This cross-sectional study was done on 116 NAFLD patients. All patients were scanned with the FibroScan examination. FIB-5 and FIB-4 were calculated for all patients.Results:The mean kPa score (liver stiffness measurement score) of the patients belonging to advanced fibrosis [9.53 ± 1.05]. The FIB-4 score was significantly higher in patients with advanced fibrosis (1.54 ± 0.38) compared with patients with mild to moderate fibrosis (1.18 ± 0.44), p-value = 0.001, whereas the FIB-5 score was insignificant between patients.Conclusion:FIB-4 is superior to FIB-5 as a simple, non-invasive marker for diagnosing advanced fibrosis in NAFLD patients.