Does transient elastography correlate with liver fibrosis in patients with PSC? Laennec score-based analysis of explanted livers

Association Between MR Elastography Liver Stiffness and Histologic Liver Fibrosis in Children and Young Adults With Autoimmune Liver Disease

Background: Liver fibrosis is an important clinical endpoint of progression of autoimmune liver disease (AILD); its monitoring would benefit from noninvasive imaging tools. Objective: To assess the relationship between MR elastography (MRE) liver stiffness measurements and histologic liver fibrosis, as well as to evaluate the performance of MRE and biochemical-based clinical markers for stratifying histologic liver fibrosis severity, in children and young adults with AILD. Methods: This retrospective study used an existing institutional registry of children and young adults diagnosed with AILD [primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), ASC (autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis), or AIH (autoimmune hepatitis)]. The registry was searched to identify patients who underwent both a research abdominal 1.5-T MRI that included liver MRE (performed for registry enrollment) and a clinically indicated liver biopsy within a 6-month interval. MRE used a 2D gradient-recalled echo sequence. One analyst measured mean liver shear stiffness (kPa) for each examination. Laboratory markers of liver fibrosis [aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 score (FIB-4)] were recorded. For investigational purposes, one pathologist determined histologic METAVIR liver fibrosis stage, blinded to clinical and MRI data. Spearman rank-order correlation was calculated between MRE liver stiffness and METAVIR liver fibrosis stage. ROC analysis was used to evaluate diagnostic performance for identifying advanced fibrosis (i.e., differentiating METAVIR F0-F1 from F2-F4 fibrosis), calculating sensitivity and specificity at the Youden's index. Results: The study included 46 patients (median [IQR] age, 16.6 [13.7-17.8] years; 20 female, 26 male); 12 had PSC, 10 had ASC, and 24 had AIH. Median MRE liver stiffness was 2.9 kPa (IQR: 2.2-4.0 kPa). MRE liver stiffness and METAVIR fibrosis stage showed strong positive correlation (rho=0.68). For identifying advanced liver fibrosis, MRE liver stiffness had AUC of 0.81, with sensitivity of 65.4% and specificity of 90.0%; APRI had AUC of 0.72, with sensitivity of 60.0% and specificity of 85.0%; and FIB-4 had AUC of 0.71, with sensitivity of 64.0% and 85.0%. Conclusion: MRE liver stiffness measurements were associated with histologic liver fibrosis severity. Clinical Impact: The findings support a role for MRE in noninvasive monitoring of liver stiffness, a surrogate for fibrosis, in children and young adults with AILD.

Diagnostic role of transient elastography in patients with autoimmune liver diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Noninvasive methods have been developed to detect fibrosis in many liver diseases due to the limits of liver biopsy. However, previous studies have focused primarily on chronic viral hepatitis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The diagnostic value of transient elastography for autoimmune liver diseases (AILDs) is worth studying.

AIM

To compare the diagnostic accuracy of imaging techniques with serum biomarkers of fibrosis in AILD.

METHODS

The PubMed, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases were searched. Studies evaluating the efficacy of noninvasive methods in the diagnosis of AILDs [autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)] were included. The summary area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), diagnostic odds ratio, sensitivity and specificity were used to assess the accuracy of these noninvasive methods for staging fibrosis.

RESULTS

A total of 60 articles were included in this study, and the number of patients with AIH, PBC and PSC was 1594, 3126 and 501, respectively. The summary AUROC of transient elastography in the diagnosis of significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with AIH were 0.84, 0.88 and 0.90, respectively, while those in patients with PBC were 0.93, 0.93 and 0.91, respectively. The AUROC of cirrhosis for patients with PSC was 0.95. However, other noninvasive indices (aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index, aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio, fibrosis-4 index) had corresponding AUROCs less than 0.80.

CONCLUSION

Transient elastography exerts better diagnostic accuracy in AILD patients, especially in PBC patients. The appropriate cutoff values for staging advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis ranged from 9.6 to 10.7 and 14.4 to 16.9 KPa for PBC patients.

Estimation of liver fibrosis using elastography in cholestatic diseases: systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

staging fibrosis extent in liver disease is highly relevant for appropriate management. Liver biopsy remains the reference standard for assessment, but noninvasive methods such as elastography are becoming increasingly accurate and relevant. However, evidence regarding elastography in cholestatic diseases is lower than in other etiologies.

METHODS

we searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science for publications on the diagnostic accuracy of transient elastography and sonoelastography in cholestatic diseases (PBC and PSC) using biopsy as the reference standard. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the results was then carried out.

RESULTS

a total of 13 studies were included. Using transient elastography in PBC sensitivity and specificity were estimated to be 0.76 and 0.93; 0.88 and 0.9; and 0.91 and 0.95 for ≥ F2, ≥ F3 and = F4, respectively. For sonoelastography in PBC sensitivity and specificity estimates were 0.79 and 0.82; 0.95 and 0.86; and 0.94 and 0.85 for ≥ F2, ≥ F3 y = F4, respectively. In PSC, transient elastography had a sensivity and specificity of 0.76 and 0.88; 0.91 and 0.86; and 0.71 and 0.93 for ≥ F2, ≥ F3 and = F4, respectively.

CONCLUSION

elastography has adequate diagnostic accuracy in the assessment of fibrosis stages in cholestatic liver diseases.

Associations between MRI T1 mapping, liver stiffness, quantitative MRCP, and laboratory biomarkers in children and young adults with autoimmune liver disease

Purpose

Define relationships between quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) metrics and clinical/laboratory data in a pediatric and young adult cohort with autoimmune liver disease (AILD).

Materials and methods

This prospective, cross-sectional study was institutional review board-approved. Patients enrolled in an institutional AILD registry were divided into groups: (1) autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) or (2) primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)/autoimmune sclerosing cholangitis (ASC). Participants underwent serum liver biochemistry testing and research MRI examinations, including 3D magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), and iron-corrected T1 mapping (cT1). MRCP + and LiverMultiScan (Perspectum Ltd., Oxford, UK) were used to post-process 3D MRCP and cT1 data. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess relationships.

Results

58 patients, 35 male, median age 16 years were included; 30 in the AIH group, 28 in the PSC/ASC group. After statistical adjustments for patient age, sex, presence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), specific diagnosis (PSC/ASC vs. AIH), and time from diagnosis to MRI examination, left hepatic bile duct maximum diameter was a statistically significant predictor of whole liver mean cT1, cT1 interquartile range (IQR), and MRE liver stiffness (p = 0.01–0.04). Seven laboratory values were significant predictors of whole liver cT1 IQR (p < 0.0001–0.04). Eight laboratory values and right hepatic bile duct median and maximum diameter were significant predictors of liver stiffness (p < 0.0001–0.03).

Conclusions

Bile duct diameters and multiple laboratory biomarkers of liver disease are independent predictors of liver stiffness and cT1 IQR in pediatric patients with AILD.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00261-021-03378-0.

Non-invasive diagnosis and follow-up of primary sclerosing cholangitis

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare and chronic cholestatic liver disease of unknown cause commonly associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and characterized by progressive obliterative fibro-inflammation of the biliary tree. Although the natural course is highly variable, PSC is often progressive, leading to biliary cirrhosis and its complications. In addition, PSC is a condition harbouring broad neoplastic potential with increased susceptibility for the development of both biliary and colon cancer. As in other chronic liver diseases, non-invasive methods play a major role in the diagnosis and monitoring of PSC. MR cholangiography is the key exam for the diagnosis and has replaced diagnostic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). A strict and standardised protocol for carrying out MR cholangiography is recommended. Liver stiffness measured by FibroScan® correlates with the degree of liver fibrosis, has a prognostic value and should be repeated during follow-up. Invasive methods still play an important role, especially ERCP which is indicated for therapeutic purposes or for endo-biliary sample collection in suspected cholangiocarcinoma (following discussion in a multidisciplinary team meeting) and total colonoscopy which is recommended at the initial diagnosis of any PSC and annually in patients with IBD.

EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on non-invasive tests for evaluation of liver disease severity and prognosis - 2021 update

Non-invasive tests are increasingly being used to improve the diagnosis and prognostication of chronic liver diseases across aetiologies. Herein, we provide the latest update to the EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on the use of non-invasive tests for the evaluation of liver disease severity and prognosis, focusing on the topics for which relevant evidence has been published in the last 5 years.

Evaluation of liver fibrosis in patients with Wilson's disease

OBJECTIVES

Staging of fibrosis in chronic liver disease is important for prognosis and treatment planning. Liver biopsy is the gold standard in fibrosis assessment; however, new methods for fibrosis and stiffness measurement exist which have not been evaluated in patients with Wilson's disease. To evaluate the accuracy of collagen proportionate area (CPA), transient elastography and shear wave elastography (SWE) in the assessment of liver fibrosis in adult patients with Wilson's disease.

METHODS

In this retrospective study of 60 patients with Wilson's disease, results of percutaneous cutting liver biopsy assessed using the Ishak fibrosis score and CPA were compared with liver stiffness measured with transient elastography and SWE.

RESULTS

CPA correlated with the Ishak score (r = 0.45; P = 0.001) and transient elastography results correlated with SWE measurements (r = 0.80; P = 0.0001). In contrast, transient elastography or SWE did not significantly correlate with the Ishak score or CPA.

CONCLUSION

Collagen content assessment may be useful for estimation of liver fibrosis in patients with Wilson's disease. However, single time-point elastographic liver stiffness measurements have a limited diagnostic value in Wilson's disease.

Measurement of liver and spleen stiffness as complementary methods for assessment of liver fibrosis in autoimmune hepatitis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Liver stiffness measurements (LSM), commonly performed by transient elastography (TE) or two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE), are used to quantify liver fibrosis. Active hepatitis, a hallmark of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), could bias LSM. This bias might be overcome by measurement spleen 2D-SWE. Here, we compare liver and spleen 2D-SWE to TE and liver biopsy (LB) in prospectively recruited patients with AIH.

METHODS

We analysed liver and spleen 2D-SWE in relation to liver TE in 90 patients treated ≥ 6 months for AIH. Liver and spleen 2D-SWE were also compared to LB in 63 individuals with AIH. Finally, we evaluated these tools in 220 patients with AIH and during 18 months follow-up.

RESULTS

Liver 2D-SWE correlated with surrogate markers of active hepatitis (ALT and IgG, both P < .001) but there was no link between spleen 2D-SWE and ALT. Liver 2D-SWE, but not spleen 2D-SWE, was associated with histopathological inflammatory score (P < .01). When compared to LB, the optimal cut-offs for detecting cirrhosis by liver and spleen 2D-SWE were 16.1 kPa (AUROC 0.93) and 29.8 kPa (AUROC 0.95), respectively. In patients with active hepatitis the combined diagnostic approach including liver and spleen 2D-SWE had significantly better AUROC for detecting cirrhosis than liver 2D-SWE alone.

CONCLUSIONS

Liver and spleen 2D-SWE are reliable complementary methods for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis in AIH. Spleen 2D-SWE seems to be less biased by inflammation and could facilitate fibrosis assessment in therapy-naïve patients or in the presence of active hepatitis.

Liver Elastography in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis Patients Using Three Different Scanner Systems

The aim of the study described here was to characterize three different liver elastography methods in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) patients, for the first time exploring 2-D shear wave elastography (2-D-SWE) in PSC patients and its putative advantages over point shear wave elastography (pSWE). Sixty-six adult PSC patients (51 males, 77%) underwent liver elastography: Transient elastography (TE), pSWE and 2-D-SWE were applied head-to-head after B-mode ultrasonography and blood tests. Liver stiffness measurements (LSMs) by pSWE yielded lower values than those by TE; 2-D-SWE had less steep slope but was overall not significantly different from TE. Correlation between LSMs by pSWE and TE was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.92); correlation for 2-D-SWE with either pSWE or TE was moderate but improved with exclusion of overweight individuals. LSMs correlated with the Enhanced Liver Fibrosis test (ELF) across all scanner systems. Our study indicates that LSM by different systems is feasible in PSC patients and that 2-D-SWE tends to underestimate stiffness compared with TE.

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis With Features of Autoimmune Hepatitis: Exploring the Global Variation in Management

Patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) frequently manifest features of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). We sought to understand factors affecting expert management, with the goal of facilitating uniformity of care. A Survey Monkey questionnaire with four hypothetical cases suggesting a potential AIH/PSC variant was sent to hepatologists spanning global practices. Eighty responses from clinicians in 23 countries were obtained. Most of the respondents would request a liver biopsy, and stated that the cases presented could not be appropriately managed without a biopsy. Despite the fact that histology did not unequivocally support an AIH/PSC variant in three of the four cases, this diagnosis was reached by most of the respondents for all cases, except case 1, in which 49% were diagnosed with AIH/PSC. There was a wide variation of suggested medical treatment. For three cases, the most commonly chosen treatment options did not exceed 35%, indicating a lack management consensus. Most respondents would treat with ursodeoxycholic acid, despite current American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases guidelines, either alone or in combination with immunosuppression. European clinicians recommended ursodeoxycholic acid more frequently than their counterparts in North America (P < 0.05 in three out of four cases), who advocated the use of immunosuppression alone more commonly than Europeans (P = 0.005 in case 2). Conclusions: We document a wide variation in clinical decision making in the context of managing patients with a potential AIH/PSC variant. Guidance, likely based on systematic studies arising from prospective registries, is needed to better address this difficult clinician problem.

Magnetic Resonance Elastography in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: Interobserver Agreement for Liver Stiffness Measurement with Manual and Automated Methods

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE

Primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic liver disease causes heterogeneous parenchymal changes and fibrosis. Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) with magnetic resonance Elastography (MRE) may be affected by this heterogeneous distribution. We evaluated interobserver agreement of LSM in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) with manual and automated methods to study the influence of heterogeneous changes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 79 consecutive patients with PSC who had a liver MRI and MRE formed the study group. Three readers with 1-3 years' experience in MRE and a MRE expert (11 years' experience) independently performed LSM. Each reader manually drew free hand (fROI) and average (aROI) on stiffness maps. Automatic liver elasticity calculation (ALEC) was used to generate automated LSM. The expert fROI was the reference standard. Correlation analysis and absolute intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) analysis was performed.

RESULTS

LSM data of 79 livers and 315 sections were evaluated. There was excellent ICC between expert and reader fROIs (0.989, 95% confidence interval, and 0.985-0.993) and aROIs (0.971, 95% confidence interval, and 0.953-0.983) and ALEC (0.972, 0.957-0.982) with fROI performing better. The areas measured with fROIs and ALEC had moderate ICC with Expert fROI (0.64 and 0.56, respectively) whereas aROI area had a poor ICC of 0.12. Comparison of multiple methods showed significant differences in LSM between expert fROI and aROI of two readers and no significant differences for fROIs of all three readers.

CONCLUSION

LSM with MRE in PSC patients shows excellent interobserver agreement with both fROI and aROI methods with better performance with fROI. fROI may therefore be preferred for LSM measurements in PSC.

PNPLA3 p.I148M and TM6SF2 p.E167K variants do not predispose to liver injury in cholestatic liver diseases: A prospective analysis of 178 patients with PSC

Background

The adiponutrin (PNPLA3) p.I148M and transmembrane 6 superfamily member 2 (TM6SF2) p.E167K variants represent major genetic risk factors for progressive liver injury in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and chronic viral hepatitis. The aim of this study was to find out whether these variants have a detrimental impact on the progression of chronic liver disease in patients with prolonged cholestasis induced by primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

Methods

We prospectively recruited 178 PSC patients (112 male, age range 17–75 years, 55 with liver cirrhosis, 94 with ulcerative colitis, 48 transplanted during follow-up). PNPLA3 rs738409 and TM6SF2 rs58542926 polymorphisms were genotyped using dedicated TaqMan assays. Associations between genotypes, biochemical and clinical phenotypes were analyzed using contingency tables.

Results

Allele and genotype distribution of both variants were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No significant differences in the genotype distribution of PNPLA3 (P = 0.90) or TM6SF2 (P = 0.72) were observed between patients with cirrhosis and patients without cirrhosis. Serum liver enzyme activities were not modified by the presence of PNPLA3 (ALT P = 0.88, AST P = 0.77) or TM6SF2 (ALT P = 0.92, AST P = 0.49) risk variants. Increasing number of risk alleles had no impact on serum liver enzyme activities, as demonstrated by a separate analysis of patients carrying 0 (n = 99), 1 (n = 64), 2 (n = 12) or 3 (n = 3) risk alleles (P>0.05). No impact of PNPLA3 or TM6SF2 risk variants was detectable in patients with PSC and ulcerative colitis, and none of the variants increased the odds of transplantation.

Conclusions

Neither PNPLA3 nor TM6SF2 polymorphisms seem to contribute significantly towards an increased risk for deterioration of liver function in patients with PSC. These results underscore the divergent mechanisms of liver damage in cholestatic conditions as compared to metabolic and viral liver diseases.