Value of liver biopsy in diagnosis of chronic hepatitis B / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the value of liver biopsy in diagnosis of the severity of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).Methods The liver biopsy, laboratory examination and imaging were performed in 176 CHB patients. The clinical and histological diagnoses were compared. Biochemical indexes of liver function were also compared between patients with histological inflammation activity ＜G2 and≥G2 or the patients with fibrosis score ＜S2 and ≥S2. Rank sum test and χ2 test were used in univariate analysis. Binary Logistic regression was used in multivariate analysis. Results Among 176patients, the clinical diagnosis of CHB and cirrhosis were established in 171 patients and five patients,respectively. Among 171 CHB patients, the clinical diagnosis was consistent with histological diagnosis in 102 (59.6%) patients. The clinical diagnosis was more severe than histological diagnosis in 60 (35.1%) patients and the clinical diagnosis was less severe than histological diagnosis in nine (5.3%) patients. Among 44 patients with histological grade G2, 41 (93.2 %) patients had alanine aminotransferase (ALT)≥2 × upper limits of normal (ULN). According multiple Logistic regression analysis, age, overt symptom, ALT level, cholinesterase (CHE), albumin (Alb), total bile acid (TBA) and ultrasonic appearance of non-smooth liver surface were independent risk factors for the diagnosis of fibrosis score ≥S2. Conclusions The CHB diagnosis based on clinical evidences doesn't show acceptable consistency with the diagnosis based on histological evidences. G2 and S2 may be more reliable criteria for diagnosing moderate and severe CHB.