Noninvasive testing allows for routine risk stratification and long-term monitoring of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), offering a safer, more practical approach than biopsy, according to a recent Clinical Practice Update Expert Review by the American Gastroenterological Association.
The update, published online in Gastroenterology, includes eight best practice advice statements.
“The health care burden of longitudinal management of patients with NAFLD is significant. The emergence and utilization of noninvasive testing (NIT) in gastroenterology practices has the potential to significantly enhance the care of patients with NAFLD by improving detection of patients with advanced fibrosis who are at increased risk for cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), thereby facilitating timely clinical management,” wrote authors who were led by Julia J. Wattacheril, MD, MPH, of the Columbia University–New York Presbyterian Hospital nonalcoholic fatty liver disease program and center for liver disease and transplantation.
“In this Expert Review, we have provided clinicians with best practice advice for optimal utilization of NITs in patients with NAFLD,” the authors wrote.
Consensus best practice for implementing NITs in practice are scarce, giving rise to the present clinical practice update. The expert panel reviewed available evidence for these tests during longitudinal care of patients with advanced fibrosis as a means of predicting liver-related outcomes and informing treatment decisions.
The first statement encourages use of NITs for risk stratification during the diagnosis of NAFLD, typically in the form of clinical calculators like fibrosis 4 index (FIB-4), vibration controlled transient elastography (VCTE), shear wave
elastography (SWE), or magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), all of which have been validated in NAFLD.
“Ultrasound-based 3-dimensional elastography (Velacur) and iron-corrected T1 magnetic resonance imaging, although used less frequently, are emerging technologies,” the panelists noted.
Second, the update suggests that patients with a FIB-4 less than 1.3 are unlikely to have advanced hepatic fibrosis, based on this threshold’s strong negative predictive value (NPV).
Still, clinicians should remember that this FIB-4 threshold may be less reliable among patients younger than 35 years or older than 65 years, making it necessary to also consider other clinical measurements, according to the update. The third best practice advice encourages use of two or more NITs among patients with a FIB-4 score greater than 1.3.
The fourth piece of best practice advice suggests that clinicians follow manufacturer’s specifications when implementing NITs, as misuse may lead to “discordant results and adverse events.”
Fifth, to increase the positive predictive value (PPV) for detecting advanced fibrosis, NITs are best interpreted in the context of relevant clinical data, such as physical exam and endoscopy findings.
Next, the document encourages use of liver biopsy when NIT findings are discordant or indeterminate, conflict with findings from other test modalities, or if alternative, non–NAFLD etiologies are suspected.
The penultimate best practice advice suggests use of NITs for serial longitudinal disease monitoring, with signs of progression or regression used to guide clinical decisions.
“Additional evidence for longitudinal prediction of fibrosis regression and progression and response to intervention (lifestyle and pharmacologic) is needed in trials and real-world clinical practice,” Dr. Wattacheril and colleagues noted.
Finally, the clinical practice update advises surveillance of liver complications, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, among patients with NIT results that suggest advanced fibrosis (F3) or cirrhosis (F4).
This clinical practice update was commissioned by the AGA Institute. The investigators disclosed relationships with AstraZeneca, BMS, Novo Nordisk, and others.
