Recent research findings on non-invasive diagnosis of liver fibrosis

Early diagnosis of liver fibrosis and dynamic monitoring of relevant changes have great implications for the treatment and prognosis improvement of chronic liver diseases. So far,liver biopsy remains the“golden standard”for the diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis. However,due to its inherent limitations,a great effort has been made to develop more accurate non- invasive diagnostic methods,including serum fibrosis markers and mathematical models,ultrasound,contrast- enhanced ultrasonography,ultrasonic elastography,computed tomography,magnetic resonance imaging,and nuclear medicine. The advantages and disadvantages of relevant methods are discussed. Furthermore,proper selection of the non- invasive diagnostic methods for clinical application and the means for mutual verification are analyzed. As for the future direction,it is expected to employ the above methods for combined analysis and comprehensive assessment,in order to enhance the clinical value of non- invasive liver fibrosis diagnosis.