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Prince DS, Hoque S, Kim C, Maher S, Miller J, Chomley P, Pritchard-Jones J, Spruce S, McGarry N, Baker D, Elix P, Liu K, Strasser SI, Goodger B, Zekry A, McCaughan GW. Screening patients in general practice for advanced chronic liver disease using an innovative IT solution: The Liver Toolkit. Hepatol Commun 2024; 8:e0482. [PMID: 38934697 PMCID: PMC11213595 DOI: 10.1097/hc9.0000000000000482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identifying patients with undiagnosed advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) is a public health challenge. Patients with advanced fibrosis or compensated cirrhosis have much better outcomes than those with decompensated disease and may be eligible for interventions to prevent disease progression. METHODS A cloud-based software solution ("the Liver Toolkit") was developed to access primary care practice software to identify patients at risk of ACLD. Clinical history and laboratory results were extracted to calculate aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index and fibrosis 4 scores. Patients identified were recalled for assessment, including Liver Stiffness Measurement (LSM) via transient elastography. Those with an existing diagnosis of cirrhosis were excluded. RESULTS Existing laboratory results of more than 32,000 adults across nine general practices were assessed to identify 703 patients at increased risk of ACLD (2.2% of the cohort). One hundred seventy-nine patients (26%) were successfully recalled, and 23/179 (13%) were identified to have ACLD (LSM ≥10.0 kPa) (10% found at indeterminate risk [LSM 8.0-9.9 kPa] and 77% low risk of fibrosis [LSM <8.0 kPa]). In most cases, the diagnosis of liver disease was new, with the most common etiology being metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (n=20, 83%). Aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index ≥1.0 and fibrosis 4 ≥3.25 had a positive predictive value for detecting ACLD of 19% and 24%, respectively. Patients who did not attend recall had markers of more severe disease with a higher median aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index score (0.57 vs. 0.46, p=0.041). CONCLUSIONS This novel information technology system successfully screened a large primary care cohort using existing laboratory results to identify patients at increased risk ACLD. More than 1 in 5 patients recalled were found to have liver disease requiring specialist follow-up.
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Affiliation(s)
- David S. Prince
- AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Liver Injury and Cancer Program, Centenary Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Department of Gastroenterology and Liver, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Shakira Hoque
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St George Hospital, Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Christy Kim
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St George Hospital, Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Salim Maher
- AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St George Hospital, Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jane Miller
- Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network, Mascot, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Phoebe Chomley
- Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network, Mascot, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Janice Pritchard-Jones
- AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Sally Spruce
- AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Nathan McGarry
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St George Hospital, Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - David Baker
- East Sydney Doctors Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Penelope Elix
- Fountain Street General Practice, Alexandria, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ken Liu
- AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Simone I. Strasser
- AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Brendan Goodger
- Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network, Mascot, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Amany Zekry
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St George Hospital, Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Geoffrey W. McCaughan
- AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Liver Injury and Cancer Program, Centenary Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Innes H, Guha IN. Reply to: "Prediction of liver-related mortality in a community setting". J Hepatol 2023; 78:e134-e135. [PMID: 36592644 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.12.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hamish Innes
- School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University. Glasgow, UK; Public Health Scotland, Glasgow, UK; Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
| | - Indra Neil Guha
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK; Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK
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