Risk assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related events using ultrasonography and transient elastography in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Cirrhosis has prognostic value. We investigated whether the combined use of ultrasonography (US) and transient elastography (TE) to diagnose cirrhosis is beneficial for the risk assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver-related events in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). A total of 9300 patients with CHB who underwent US and TE in two institutions between 2006 and 2018 were enrolled. TE value >= 13 kPa was set to indicate cirrhosis. Patients were divided into four groups: US(+)TE(+) (cirrhosis by US and TE), US(+)TE(-) (cirrhosis by US, but not by TE), US(-)TE(+) (cirrhosis by TE, but not by US) and US(-)TE(-) (non-cirrhosis by US and TE).The patients were predominantly male (n = 5474, 58.9%) with a mean age of 47.5 years. The proportions of patients with cirrhosis diagnosed by US and TE were 17.2% (n = 1595) and 13.2% (n = 1225), respectively. The proportion of patients with discordant results in diagnosing cirrhosis by US and TE was 18.7% (n = 1740). During follow-up (median: 60.0 months), HCC and liver-related events developed in 481 (5.2%) and 759 (8.2%) patients, respectively. The cumulative incidence rates of HCC and liver-related events were highest in the US(+)TE(+) group, intermediate-high in the US(-)TE(+) group, intermediate-low in the US(+)TE(-) group and lowest in the US(-)TE(-) group (overall p < .001). Cirrhosis assessed using US and TE was a major predictor of HCC and liver-related event development in patients with CHB. Cirrhosis assessed using TE seemed better in predicting HCC or liver-related events than using US, when cirrhosis diagnosis was discordant by US and TE.

Automated summary

The combined use of ultrasonography and transient elastography to diagnose cirrhosis is beneficial for assessing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related events in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Cirrhosis assessed using these methods was a major predictor of HCC and liver-related event development, with transient elastography seeming more effective in predicting these events when the diagnosis was discordant.