A simple bedside blood test (Fibrofast; FIB-5) is superior to FIB-4 index for the differentiation between non-significant and significant fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

INTRODUCTION: A simple non-invasive score (Fibrofast, FIB-5) was developed using five routine laboratory tests (ALT, AST, alkaline phosphatase, albumin and platelets count) for the detection of significant hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The FIB-4 index is a non-invasive test for the assessment of liver fibrosis, and a score of ≤1.45 enables the correct identification of patients who have non-significant (F0-1) from significant fibrosis (F2-4), and could avoid liver biopsy. The aim of this study was to compare the performance characteristics of FIB-5 and FIB-4 to differentiate between non-significant and significant fibrosis.

METHOD: A cross-sectional study included 604 chronic HCV patients. All liver biopsies were scored using the METAVIR system. Both FIB-5 and FIB-4 scores were measured and the performance characteristics were calculated using the ROC curve.

RESULTS: The performance characteristics of FIB-5 at ≥7.5 and FIB-4 at ≤1.45 for the differentiation between non-significant fibrosis and significant fibrosis were: specificity 94.4%, PPV 85.7%, and specificity 54.9%, PPV 55.7% respectively.

CONCLUSION: FIB-5 score at the new cutoff is superior to FIB-4 index for the differentiation between non-significant and significant fibrosis.