Tseng TC, et al. - Researchers examined if fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), a surrogate marker for hepatic fibrosis in hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers stratified the risks of adverse liver events. The enrollment consisted of 2,075 treatment-naive, noncirrhotic the patients with chronic HBV infection. It was inferred that a higher FIB-4 index was related to increased risks of adverse liver events among noncirrhotic patients with chronic HBV infection. Therefore, FIB-4 index <1.29 proved to be beneficial for the speculation of the lowest risks of disease progression.

Methods

• Experts assessed 2,075 treatment-naive, noncirrhotic the patients with chronic HBV infection.
• A majority of the enrollees (82.1%) were HBeAg-negative patients.
• The baseline FIB-4 levels of patients were inspected in order to stratify the risks of cirrhosis, cirrhosis-related complications and liver-related mortality.

Results

• A higher baseline FIB-4 index exhibited a link with increased incidence rates of cirrhosis in addition to the common host and viral factors during a mean follow-up period of 15.47 years.
• A connection was disclosed between patients with FIB-4 >1.29, compared to those with FIB-4 <1.29, with increased risks of cirrhosis, cirrhosis-related complications and liver-related mortality with the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of 6.19 (4.76-8.05), 6.88, (3.68-12.86) and 7.79, (4.54-13.37) respectively.
• Stability of FIB-4 was found and its kinetics were consistently related to the development of adverse liver events within the first 3 years of follow-up.
• FIB-4 index of 1.29 aided in stratifying all the risks of adverse liver events even in HBeAg-negative patients with a low risk of disease progression (HBV DNA <2000 IU/mL, HBsAg <1000 IU/mL and ALT <40 U/L).
• Findings demonstrated that just 1 patient with FIB-4 index <1.29 developed cirrhosis but not other events within 15 years of follow-up.