ABSTRACT
Fibrosis index is a new index used for differentiation of cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis. If fibrosis index appears efficient in Doppler ultrasonography, it can be considered a good alternative for liver biopsy. Therefore, in this study we evaluated the diagnostic values of fibrosis index in ultrasonography for differentiation of chronic viral hepatitis from hepatic cirrhosis. This cross-sectional study included 104 patients, 19 patients with cirrhosis and 85 patients with chronic hepatitis. The diagnoses of cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis had been confirmed by biopsy. PSV, RI, EDV, PPFV and FI indices were calculated and compared between the two groups. Then, using ROC curve, we determined the cut-off-point for FI. The median of PSV and RI in the cirrhosis group was significantly higher than those in the chronic hepatitis group [p<0.05] but EDV median did not show any difference and PPFV was significantly lower in the cirrhosis group in comparison to the hepatitis group [p<0.001]. A fibrosis index of 3.365 or higher with a sensitivity of 94.7% and a specificity of 83.5% was the best cut-off-point for differentiating cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis. The area under curve was estimated at 0.948. Based on the results of this study, fibrosis index in the above- mentioned method could be a highly efficient index for differentiation of cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis and its sensitivity and specificity were higher than those of previously used indices.