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Non-invasive Assessment of Liver Disease

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Hepatitis B Virus and Liver Disease

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Abstract

Liver fibrosis or cirrhosis is one of the strongest risk factors of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related complications in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Because current therapies for chronic hepatitis B are safe and highly effective, routine liver biopsy for prognostication and selection of patients for treatment cannot be justified. Instead, non-invasive tests of liver fibrosis such as physical measurement of liver stiffness (e.g. transient elastography, acoustic radiation force impulse, shear wave elastography and magnetic resonance elastography) and serum tests of fibrosis (including both proprietary and generic markers) have largely replaced liver biopsy as the initial assessment of disease severity. This chapter focuses on the nature and diagnostic performance of these non-invasive tests. We also discuss their role in detecting portal hypertension and predicting adverse outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 9/F, Clinical Sciences Building, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, Hong Kong, China

    Henry Lik-Yuen Chan M.D., F.R.C.P & Vincent Wai-Sun Wong M.D., F.R.C.P

  2. State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Henry Lik-Yuen Chan M.D., F.R.C.P & Vincent Wai-Sun Wong M.D., F.R.C.P

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  1. Henry Lik-Yuen Chan M.D., F.R.C.P
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  2. Vincent Wai-Sun Wong M.D., F.R.C.P
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Correspondence to Henry Lik-Yuen Chan M.D., F.R.C.P .

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  1. Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jia-Horng Kao

  2. Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Genomics Research CenterAcademia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ding-Shinn Chen

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Chan, H.LY., Wong, V.WS. (2018). Non-invasive Assessment of Liver Disease. In: Kao, JH., Chen, DS. (eds) Hepatitis B Virus and Liver Disease. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4843-2_9

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