The Role of Ultrasound Imaging in the Definition of the Stage of Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

The aim of this research was to develop a method for noninvasive staging of liver fibrosis (LF) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) based on ultrasound imaging (UI) of the abdominal cavity. We examined 124 patients with CHC. The diagnosis was verified on the basis of clinical and epidemiological, serological and molecular biological data. Direct ultrasonic parameters of the structure and hemodynamics of liver and spleen were supplemented with estimated indicators: square of the expected cross-section of the lobes of the liver and spleen, as well as their ratio. On the basis of the discriminant analysis of the survey data of 82 patients, we developed an analytical model (with predictive value of 95.2%) for interval estimation of the fibrosis degree in CHC patients. We have concluded that UI performed on modern equipment, including Doppler, is able to determine the degree of LF without resorting to histological verification.