Noninvasive assessment of liver function

Assessment of Liver Fibrosis: Noninvasive Means

Liver biopsy, owing to its limitations and risks, is an imperfect gold standard for assessing the severity of the most frequent chronic liver diseases chronic hepatitis C (HCV), B (HBV) non alcoholic (NAFLD) and alcoholic (ALD) fatty liver diseases. This review summarizes the advantages and the limits of the available biomarkers of liver fibrosis. Among a total of 2,237 references, a total of 1...

Noninvasive Alternatives for the Assessment of Liver Fibrosis

Chronic liver diseases (CLD) are common and may lead to fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatic malignancy. Detection and staging of liver fibrosis is crucial for management of patients with CLD. At present, liver biopsy is the standard method for staging fibrosis, but biopsies are poorly tolerated because they are invasive and associated with some discomfort and complications. In addition, limitation...

Noninvasive assessment of liver steatosis using ultrasound methods.

Hepatic steatosis is a condition frequently encountered in clinical practice, with potential progression towards chirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Ultrasonography (US) is one of the noninvasive imaging techniques used in the diagnosis of steatosis. We will review the US diagnostic criteria, the US performance in the diagnosis and grading of hepatic steatosis, the US steatosis models, but...

Noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis: key messages for clinicians.

The management of patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) requires an accurate definition of the staging and grading, as the latter is related to the progression of liver fibrosis. Albeit liver biopsy (LB) is an invasive procedure with possible complications, it is currently the "gold standard" for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis. Over the past decade, several noninvasive approaches have b...

Liver cirrhosis noninvasive assessment with Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging.