Non invasive diagnosis of fibrosis in HCV infection: Role in the treatment indication, follow-up, and the assessment of the prognosis

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection associated with necroinflammation predisposes to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and leads severe end-stage complications. The staging of fibrosis is of basic importance for the indication of antiviral treatment, monitoring the response and predicting the prognosis in patients with HCV-related liver disease. Since liver biopsy, the „gold standard” for the diagnosis of fibrosis is invasive, and has some other limitations, non-invasive methods have been developed and now widely used in the clinical practice. Serum biomarkers, and the physical approaches measuring liver stiff…