Performance of Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography for Staging Liver Fibrosis in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C After Viral Eradication

Abstract Background Data on noninvasive liver fibrosis staging after viral eradication are unclear. This histology-based study validated the performance of liver stiffness (LS) measurements after viral eradication. Methods Consecutive participants with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) who received concomitant LS measurements through acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography and percutaneous liver biopsy were prospectively screened and analyzed. Results Of the 644 patients, 521 (80.9%) underwent a biopsy at treatment baseline, and the remaining 123 (19.1%) underwent a biopsy at 3 years (median; interquartile range, 0.1) after the sustained virological response (SVR) to pegylated interferon–based and direct-acting antiviral treatments. The proportions of histological fibrosis stages did not differ significantly between the pretreatment and post-SVR groups (P = .0615). However, the LS values differed significantly (P < .0001). The median LS values (presented as shear wave velocities in meters per second) were 1.51 (0.92) for the pretreatment group and 1.22 (0.77) for the post-SVR group. The cutoffs (areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve, obtained using the bootstrap method) to dichotomize between METAVIR fibrosis stage F1 versus stages F2–F4, F1–F2 versus F3–F4, and F1–F3 versus F4 were 1.47 (0.8333, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.7981–0.8663), 1.81 (0.8763, 95% CI 0.8376–0.9107), and 1.86 (0.8811, 95% CI 0.8378–0.9179) in the pretreatment group, respectively, and 1.22 (0.7872, 95% CI 0.7001–0.8624), 1.59 (0.8808, 95% CI 0.8034–0.9422), and 1.75 (0.9018, 95% CI 0.8201–0.9644) in the post-SVR group, respectively. Conclusions The performance of LS measurements through ARFI elastography is promising to determine the liver fibrosis stage on necroinflammation-resolved histology in CHC after viral eradication. Data on noninvasive liver fibrosis staging through elastography after viral eradication with resolved hepatic necroinflammation are unclear. Elastography is validated as promising to determine the liver fibrosis stage on necroinflammation-resolved histology in patients with chronic hepatitis C after viral eradication.