Efficiency of FibroTouch in evaluating liver fibrosis degree in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients with different levels of body mass index

Objective To investigate the efficiency of Fibro Touch noninvasive liver stiffness measurement (LSM) in evaluating liver fibrosis degree in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients with different levels of body mass index (BMI) . Methods A total of 238 NAFLD patients who were admitted to The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from June 2015 to January 2018 and underwent liver biopsy were enrolled in this study, and according to BMI, they were divided into group A (BMI < 24) , group B (24≤BMI < 28) , and group C (BMI≥28) . Fibro Touch was performed within one week after liver biopsy, and fasting blood samples were collected on the same day. The fibrosis indices were calculated. The efficiency of LSM in evaluating fibrosis degree was analyzed in all groups, and the correlation of LSM with related serological fibrosis indices was analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of LSM and serum markers. A one-way analysis of variance and the SNK-q test were used to investigate the differences in related indices between NAFLD patients with varying fibrosis degrees, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed data. The Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between LSM and other indices. Results In group A, B, or C, there was a significant difference in LSM between the NAFLD patients with different fibrosis degrees (F = 18. 543, 22. 985, and 5. 904, P < 0. 001, P < 0. 001, and P = 0. 004) . In the NAFLD patients with progressive liver fibrosis, there was a significant difference in LSM between the patients with different levels of BMI (F = 3. 899, P = 0. 026) . LSM was correlated with Hui score, Forns index, fibrosis-4, and NAFLD fibrosis score (r = 0. 459, 0. 388, 0. 427, and 0. 422, all P < 0. 001) . LSM had the highest efficiency in the diagnosis of progressive liver fibrosis in NAFLD patients, with an AUC of 0. 870, a specificity of 86%, and a sensitivity of 70%. Conclusion Fibro Touch has good value in evaluating the liver fibrosis degree of NAFLD patients, and BMI may affect the result of LSM. LSM is well correlated with other diagnostic indices for liver fibrosis and holds promise for clinical application.