Gastroenterol Res

Gastroenterology Research, ISSN 1918-2805 print, 1918-2813 online, Open Access

Article copyright, the authors; Journal compilation copyright, Gastroenterol Res and Elmer Press Inc

Journal website https://www.gastrores.org

Original Article

Volume 14, Number 1, February 2021, pages 31-40

Non-Invasive Reliable Methods to Objectify the Positive Influence of Hepatitis C Virus Treatment on Liver Stiffness

Figure 1. Mean values pre- and post-treatment. ARFI-SWEI: acoustic radiation force impulse and shear wave elasticity imaging; APRI: aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index; FIB-4: fibrosis-4; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferease.

**Table 1.** Patients Characteristics and Therapy Results
ARFI-SWEI: acoustic radiation force impulse and shear wave elasticity imaging; IFN: pegylated Interferon; RBV: ribavirin; TVR: telaprevir; BOC: boceprevir; SOF: sofosbuvir; SMV: simeprevir; DCV: daclatasvir; LDV: ledipasvir.
Patients	N = 62
Gender (male/female)	37/25
Mean age (years)	50.65 (25 - 81)
Genotype (GT)		Therapy
GT1 (1a/1b/unknown)	44 (10/30/4)	RBV/IFN (n = 3), TVR/IFN/RBV (n = 17), BOC/IFN/RBV (n = 2), SOF/LDV +/-RBV (n = 17), SOF/DCV (n = 3), SOF/RBV (n = 1), SOF/SMV/RBV (n = 1)
GT2	5	SOF/DCV +/- RBV (n = 2), SOF/DCV (n = 1), SOF/RBV (n = 2)
GT3	10	RBV/IFN (n = 3), SOF/DCV +/- RBV (n = 6), SOF/IFN/RBV (n = 1)
GT4	3	SOF/IFN/RBV (n = 1), SOF/RBV (n = 1), SOF/LDV/RBV (n = 1)
	Pre-treatment	Post-treatment
Mean HCV-RNA (U/mL)	3,070,943 (48,837-12,831,248)	0
ARFI-SWEI
F0-1	15 (24%)	27 (44%)
F2	15 (24%)	19 (31%)
F3	11 (18%)	3 (5%)
F4	21 (34%)	13 (21%)

Table 1. Patients Characteristics and Therapy Results

ARFI-SWEI: acoustic radiation force impulse and shear wave elasticity imaging; IFN: pegylated Interferon; RBV: ribavirin; TVR: telaprevir; BOC: boceprevir; SOF: sofosbuvir; SMV: simeprevir; DCV: daclatasvir; LDV: ledipasvir.

Patients

N = 62

Gender (male/female)

37/25

Mean age (years)

50.65 (25 - 81)

Genotype (GT)

Therapy

GT1 (1a/1b/unknown)

44 (10/30/4)

RBV/IFN (n = 3), TVR/IFN/RBV (n = 17), BOC/IFN/RBV (n = 2), SOF/LDV +/-RBV (n = 17), SOF/DCV (n = 3), SOF/RBV (n = 1), SOF/SMV/RBV (n = 1)

GT2

SOF/DCV +/- RBV (n = 2), SOF/DCV (n = 1), SOF/RBV (n = 2)

GT3

RBV/IFN (n = 3), SOF/DCV +/- RBV (n = 6), SOF/IFN/RBV (n = 1)

GT4

SOF/IFN/RBV (n = 1), SOF/RBV (n = 1), SOF/LDV/RBV (n = 1)

Pre-treatment

Post-treatment

Mean HCV-RNA (U/mL)

3,070,943 (48,837-12,831,248)

ARFI-SWEI

F0-1

15 (24%)

27 (44%)

15 (24%)

19 (31%)

11 (18%)

3 (5%)

21 (34%)

13 (21%)

**Table 2.** Mean Values Pre-Treatment and Post-Treatment
	Mean	Median	Standard deviation	Standard error of the mean	Interquartile range	95% Confidence interval
Platelets (/nL)
T0	181	175	84	11	125	160 - 203
T6	190	185	84	11	108	169 - 212
AST (U/L)
T0	83	56	78	10	71	63 - 103
T6	27	26	9	1	12	25 - 29
ALT (U/L)
T0	110	72	120	15	110	80 - 141
T6	24	22	11	1	11	22 - 27
ARFI-SWEI (m/s)
T0	1.85	1.73	0.75	0.10	1.05	1.66 - 2.04
T6	1.55	1.36	0.67	0.09	0.74	1.38 - 1.72
APRI
T0	1.44	0.68	1.49	0.19	1.76	1.06 - 1.82
T6	0.44	0.30	0.36	0.05	0.39	0.35 - 0.53
FIB-4
T0	3.19	1.86	2.81	0.36	4.23	2.47 - 3.90
T6	2.11	1.46	1.80	0.23	1.52	1.65 - 2.57
Elevation of platelets is not statistical significant. Improvement of AST, ALT, APRI, FIB-4 and ARFI-SWEI is statistically significant. T0: baseline; T6: 6 months; ARFI-SWEI: acoustic radiation force impulse and shear wave elasticity imaging; APRI: aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index; FIB-4: fibrosis-4; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferease.
Platelets (/nL)	-9.016	45.918	5.832	-20.677	2.645	-1.546	61	0.127
AST (U/L)	55.903	77.241	9.810	36.288	75.519	5.699	61	0.000
ALT (U/L)	85.968	120.196	15.265	55.444	116.492	5.632	61	0.000
ARFI-SWEI (m/s)	0.3020968	0.4004880	0.0508620	0.2003919	0.4038017	5.940	61	0.000
APRI	0.9951677	1.3930209	0.1769138	0.6414066	1.3489288	5.625	61	0.000
FIB-4	1.0780645	2.0550161	0.2609873	0.5561881	1.5999409	4.131	61	0.000

Table 2. Mean Values Pre-Treatment and Post-Treatment

Mean

Median

Standard deviation

Standard error of the mean

Interquartile range

95% Confidence interval

Platelets (/nL)

181

175

125

160 - 203

190

185

108

169 - 212

AST (U/L)

63 - 103

25 - 29

ALT (U/L)

110

120

110

80 - 141

22 - 27

ARFI-SWEI (m/s)

1.85

1.73

0.75

0.10

1.05

1.66 - 2.04

1.55

1.36

0.67

0.09

0.74

1.38 - 1.72

APRI

1.44

0.68

1.49

0.19

1.76

1.06 - 1.82

0.44

0.30

0.36

0.05

0.39

0.35 - 0.53

FIB-4

3.19

1.86

2.81

0.36

4.23

2.47 - 3.90

2.11

1.46

1.80

0.23

1.52

1.65 - 2.57

Paired t-test

T0-T6

Paired difference

Significance

Mean

Standard deviation

Standard error of the mean

95% confidence interval of difference

Inferior

Superior

Elevation of platelets is not statistical significant. Improvement of AST, ALT, APRI, FIB-4 and ARFI-SWEI is statistically significant. T0: baseline; T6: 6 months; ARFI-SWEI: acoustic radiation force impulse and shear wave elasticity imaging; APRI: aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index; FIB-4: fibrosis-4; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferease.

Platelets (/nL)

-9.016

45.918

5.832

-20.677

2.645

-1.546

0.127

AST (U/L)

55.903

77.241

9.810

36.288

75.519

5.699

0.000

ALT (U/L)

85.968

120.196

15.265

55.444

116.492

5.632

0.000

ARFI-SWEI (m/s)

0.3020968

0.4004880

0.0508620

0.2003919

0.4038017

5.940

0.000

APRI

0.9951677

1.3930209

0.1769138

0.6414066

1.3489288

5.625

0.000

FIB-4

1.0780645

2.0550161

0.2609873

0.5561881

1.5999409

4.131

0.000

**Table 3.** Correlation of Metric Values: ARFI-SWEI, APRI Score and FIB-4 Index (N = 62)
Pearson (metric)	Baseline	6 months
**Correlation significance 0.01. ARFI-SWEI: acoustic radiation force impulse and shear wave elasticity imaging; APRI: aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index; FIB-4: fibrosis-4.
ARFI-SWEI
Correlation	1	0.398**	0.535**	1	0.432**	0.457**
APRI
Correlation	0.398**	1	0.798**	0.432**	1	0.922**
FIB-4
Correlation	0.535**	0.798**	1	0.457**	0.922**	1

Table 3. Correlation of Metric Values: ARFI-SWEI, APRI Score and FIB-4 Index (N = 62)

Pearson (metric)

Baseline

6 months

ARFI-SWEI

APRI

FIB-4

ARFI-SWEI

APRI

FIB-4

**Correlation significance 0.01. ARFI-SWEI: acoustic radiation force impulse and shear wave elasticity imaging; APRI: aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index; FIB-4: fibrosis-4.

ARFI-SWEI

Correlation

0.398**

0.535**

0.432**

0.457**

APRI

Correlation

0.398**

0.798**

0.432**

0.922**

FIB-4

Correlation

0.535**

0.798**

0.457**

0.922**