The Role of Transient Elastography for Fibrosis Staging in HCV-Related Chronic Liver Disease

The introduction of non-invasive fibrosis tests has revolutionized clinical hepatology and has allowed risk stratification at a much larger scale ever accomplished with liver biopsy. Most non-invasive tests have been developed and calibrated in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), in the era before the direct-acting antivirals. In this chapter, we review the use of elastography in staging of fibrosis in patients with CHC both untreated and post-sustained virological response (SVR). We include data on FibroScan and more recent techniques, such as ARFI and shear wave. We also present data on the prediction of liver-related complications in HCV using elastography, which is particularly important in the post-SVR phase.