Liver stiffness and 30-day mortality in a cohort of patients admitted to hospital

Eur J Clin Invest 2011 Background Transient elastography (TE) is a new noninvasive method to assess the degree of liver fibrosis by measuring liver stiffness. The objective of this study was to determine whether increased liver stiffness in patients admitted to medical wards was associated with increased 30‐day mortality. Materials and methods A prospective cohort study at the medical admissions ward at Odense University Hospital, Denmark, covering a population of 300 000 inhabitants. Consecutive patients ≥ 18 years of age were examined by TE (Fibroscan) at admission. Outcome measure was 30‐day mortality. Results Among 568 patients admitted during 24 days, 289 (50·8%) were included in the study, 212 (73·4%) with valid TE measurement. Increased liver stiffness (TE value > 8 kPa) was found in 22·6% (48/212). This was independently associated with cirrhosis of the liver (P