Noninvasive Measurements Predict Liver Fibrosis Well in Hepatitis C Virus Patients After Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy

Background Short-time usage of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAA) limited knowledge regarding histological outcomes and predictive values of noninvasive measurements in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) after sustained virologic response (SVR) with DAA. Aims This study aimed to indicate histological changes and assess predictive value of noninvasive measurements for fibrosis in these patients. Methods HCV patients who achieved SVR by DAA were identified. Pre- and post-SVR clinical and histological data were collected. Results Of patients, 83% (33/40), 38% (15/40) and 83% (33/40) achieved inflammation improvement, fibrosis regression and histological improvement, respectively. Liver stiffness measurements (LSM), APRI, and FIB-4 could predict post-SVR fibrosis well without significant differences. Areas under receiver operating characteristic curves of LSM, APRI, and FIB-4 were 0.78, 0.81, and 0.87 for post-SVR advanced fibrosis (≥ F4) and 0.86, 0.86, and 0.85 for post-SVR cirrhosis (≥ F5), respectively. Pre-SVR LSM, APRI, and FIB-4 values were significantly lower in patients with fibrosis regression ( P = 0.003–0.012), while FIB-4 was significantly lower in patients with histological improvement ( P = 0.012–0.033). Patients with higher pre-SVR Ishak scores tended to have bigger decline in APRI ( P = 0.025) and FIB-4 ( P = 0.024) after SVR. Conclusions DAA could improve liver inflammation and fibrosis of HCV patients in a short time after SVR. LSM, APRI, and FIB-4 predict fibrosis well even after SVR by DAA. Most of the cutoff values for advanced fibrosis (≥ F4) and cirrhosis (≥ F5) of these noninvasive measurements decreased significantly after SVR, maybe because of the inflammation improvement.