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Review
. 2008 Apr;134(4):960-74.
doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2008.01.034. Epub 2008 Jan 18.

Performance of transient elastography for the staging of liver fibrosis: a meta-analysis

Mireen Friedrich-Rust  1 , Mei-Fang Ong, Swantje Martens, Christoph Sarrazin, Joerg Bojunga, Stefan Zeuzem, Eva Herrmann
Affiliations
Review

Performance of transient elastography for the staging of liver fibrosis: a meta-analysis

Mireen Friedrich-Rust et al. Gastroenterology. 2008 Apr.

Abstract

Background & aims: Transient elastography has been studied in a multitude of liver diseases for the staging of liver fibrosis with variable results. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the overall performance of transient elastography for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis and to analyze factors influencing the diagnostic accuracy.

Methods: Literature databases and international conference abstracts were searched. Inclusion criteria were as follows: evaluation of transient elastography, liver biopsy as reference, and assessment of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). The meta-analysis was performed using the random-effects model for the AUROC, summary receiver operating curve techniques, as well as meta-regression approaches.

Results: Fifty studies were included in the analysis. The mean AUROC for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis, severe fibrosis, and cirrhosis were 0.84 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82-0.86), 0.89 (95% CI, 0.88-0.91), and 0.94 (95% CI, 0.93-0.95), respectively. For the diagnosis of significant fibrosis a significant reduction of heterogeneity of the AUROC was found when differentiating between the underlying liver diseases (P < .001). Other factors influencing the AUROC were the scoring system used and the country in which the study was performed. Age, body mass index, and biopsy quality did not have a significant effect on the AUROC.

Conclusions: Transient elastography can be performed with excellent diagnostic accuracy and independent of the underlying liver disease for the diagnosis of cirrhosis. However, for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis, a high variation of the AUROC was found that is dependent on the underlying liver disease.

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