Liver stiffness in HCV and ALD: Fibrosis-related cut-off values depend on degree and location of inflammation

Introduction: Liver stiffness (LS) can also be drastically elevated during liver inflammation making it difficult to separate fibrosis- from inflammation-induced LS. We here performed a multicenter study both on a portal-tract pronounced (hepatitis C virus infection; HCV) and a predominantly lobular disease (alcoholic liver disease; ALD). The major aim was, first, to learn whether portal and lobular inflammation differently translate into LS elevation and, second, to calculate adapted cut-off values for concomitant inflammation. Methods: 452 patients with ALD, and 1393 patients with HCV were enrolled from five c…