ABSTRACT
To assess the diagnosis value of Fibrotest in comparison with liver biopsy, for the evaluation of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. This prospective study included in 2 years [2006-2007], consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C native to treatment. Fibrotest and liver biopsy were performed. Receiver operating characteristics [ROC] curves, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were used to assess the diagnostic value of Fibrotest in comparison with the METAVIR classification. We recruited a total of 65 patients: 28 males and 37 females [mean age: 50 years]; 92% of the patients had genotype 1. The histological fibrosis results were: 3. 1% F0; 24. 6% Fl; 32. 3%F2; 29. 2%F3 and 10.8%F4. The diagnostic value of Fibrotest in the detection of significant fibrosis [F2-F4] was 0.87. A score >0.5 has a sensitivity of 85.1%, a specificity of 72.2%, a positive predictive value of 88. 9%, and a negative predictive value of 65%. The diagnostic value of Fibrotest in the detection of cirrhosis [F4] was0.85. There were 13/65 cases of discordance [20%] for fibrosis, 4 cases were attributed to biopsy and 6 cases to Fibrotest. The discordance was unexplained in 3 cases. The size of biopsy<15mm [OR=2. 82, 95% CI, 1.3-6.07; p=0.008] and the stage of fibrosis F0, F1, F2 [OR= 3.35, 95% CI, 1.1-10.2; p=0.03] were considered as risk factors of discordance in multivariate analysis. This prospective study confirmed the good diagnostic value of Fibrotest as compared with the histological analysis of liver biopsy