A Repeat Test for Liver Cirrhosis

Fat accumulation in the liver can lead to cirrhosis or cancer. Symptoms of liver cirrhosis occur at a late stage when the chance of treatment is low – and, although blood tests can measure liver damage, cirrhosis risk prediction remains a challenge. New research has shown that repeated use of the fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), a score that evaluates the degree of fibrosis, could better predict whether a patient will develop cirrhosis.

The team surveyed data from between 1985 and 1996, which included the FIB-4 scores of over 40,000 people in Sweden. After reviewing national registers to identify those who developed cirrhosis, they found that risk increases in people whose FIB-4 score rises between two testing occasions – and that risk decreases again when it falls. Almost half of those who developed cirrhosis were spotted retrospectively using FIB-4 scores – and future research may improve our ability to detect potential cirrhosis patients.