Selected Noninvasive Markers in Diagnosing Liver Diseases

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of certain noninvasive liver-damage markers in predicting liver diseases and the clinical severity of liver cirrhosis.

Methods: We tested serum specimens from 57 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, 30 with nonalcoholic cirrhosis, and 22 with toxic hepatitis (TH). The Bonacini, King, and Göteborg University Cirrhosis Index (GUCI) scores were calculated using specific formulas.

Results: The values of the Bonacini and King scores significantly differ between liver diseases. The Bonacini score was higher in alcoholic and nonalcoholic cirrhosis than in TH, and the King score was higher in alcoholic cirrhosis than in TH. All of the tested scores appeared to vary according to the severity of liver damage and were higher in Child-Pugh class C than that in classes A and B.

Conclusions: We conclude that the Bonacini and King scores differ between liver diseases and that all the tested scores reflect the severity of liver cirrhosis.

Keywords: liver cirrhosis; liver fibrosis; noninvasive markers; serum markers; toxic hepatitis.