Value of common clinical indices and noninvasive liver fibrosis scores in the diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis in hepatic-type Wilson’s disease in China / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the association of common clinical indices and noninvasive liver fibrosis scores with hepatic-type Wilson’s disease (WD) in Chinese patients and their ability to identify advanced liver fibrosis. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 236 Chinese patients with WD who were diagnosed and treated in Beijing YouAn Hospital and China-Japan Friendship Hospital from May 1996 to April 2020. A total of 26 patients with hepatic-type WD who underwent liver pathological examination and had complete clinical data were enrolled; the METAVIR score was used to determine liver fibrosis stage, and the patients were divided into advanced liver fibrosis (F3 and F4 stages) group and non-advanced liver fibrosis (F0, F1, and F2 stages) groups. Three noninvasive liver fibrosis scores ［Sheth index, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index］ were calculated for both groups, and the above indices and related clinical indices were compared between the two groups. The independent samples t-test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the Fisher’s exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Spearman rank correlation test was used for further analysis of indices with statistical significance, and the clinical indices and scoring criteria correlated with liver fibrosis degree were screened out; the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated. ResultsMost of the patients in this study developed the disease in childhood and adolescence, and among these patients, 10 (38.5%) had positive K-F ring and 17 (65%) were in the stage of advanced liver fibrosis. There were significant differences between the advanced liver fibrosis group and the non-advanced liver fibrosis group in white blood cell count (WBC) (Z=-2.102, P=0.036), hemoglobin (Hb) (t=-2.860, P=0009), platelet count (PLT) (t=-4.053, P＜0.001), direct bilirubin (DBil) (Z=-2.130, P=0.033), albumin (Alb) (t=-2.875, P=0.008), and Sheth index (Z=-3.369, P=0.001). WBC, Hb, PLT, and Alb were negatively correlated with liver fibrosis degree in WD patients (r=-0.587, -0.610, -0.656, and -0.411, all P＜0.05), and DBil and Sheth index were positively correlated with liver fibrosis degree (r=0.486 and 0.711, both P＜0.05). The ROC curve analysis showed that WBC, DBil, Sheth index, Hb, PLT, and Alb had an AUC of ＞0.7, among which Sheth index had the largest AUC of 0.908, with a sensitivity of 70.6%, a specificity of 100.0%, a positive predictive value of 100.0%, and a negative predictive value of 64.3%. ConclusionSheth index has a better diagnostic efficiency than the other clinical indices alone and can well identify advanced liver fibrosis in Chinese patients with hepatic-type WD.