Abstract: Objective To investigate the value and limitation of abdominal ultrasonography (AUS) and FibroTouch (FT) in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis for better clinical application. Methods Liver stiffness measurement and semi-quantitative AUS score were recorded. Diagnostic value of AUS and FT for liver fibrosis was assessed with receiver operating characteristic curve using liver biopsy as the gold standard. Moreover, cases misdiagnosed of cirrhosis by the two methods were comparatively analyzed. Results The areas under the curve of AUS and FT for apparent fibrosis (S≥2), progressive fibrosis (S≥3) and early cirrhosis (S=4) were 0.915, 0.873, 0.821 and 0.854, 0.802, 0.727, respectively. There were 87 cases (34%) in AUS group and 45 cases (27%) in FT group with biased diagnosis. Conclusion AUS and FT may serve as two reliable ultrasonic non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis, which can be applied for observation of clinical efficacy. However, liver biopsy and non-invasive methods should be used under comprehensive analysis because of their disadvantages.

Key words: Hepatic Fibrosis, Ultrasonography, FibroTouch, Non-invasive diagnosis