Gut Liver.  2021 Jan;15(1):117-127. 10.5009/gnl19301.

Hepatic Steatosis Index in the Detection of Fatty Liver in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Receiving Antiviral Therapy

• Chang JW
• Lee HW
• Kim BK
• Park JY
• Kim DY
• Ahn SH
• Han KH
• Kim SU

• KMID: 2513683
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5009/gnl19301

Abstract

Background/Aims
The hepatic steatosis index (HSI) is a noninvasive method to assess the severity of hepatic steatosis. Antiviral therapy (AVT) can impact aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels, which are the main components of the HSI. Thus, we investigated the accuracy of the HSI in detecting hepatic steatosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) receiving AVT, compared with those not receiving AVT and in those with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
Methods
Patients with CHB or NAFLD who underwent a magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) evaluation between March 2010 and March 2019 were recruited.Hepatic steatosis was diagnosed when the PDFF exceeded 5%. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) analysis was used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the HSI in the detection of hepatic steatosis.
Results
The mean age of the study population (189 men and 116 women; 244 with CHB [184 with and 60 without AVT] and 61 with NAFLD) was 55.6 years. The AUROC values for detecting hepatic steatosis were similar between patients with CHB (0.727; p<0.001) and those with NAFLD (0.739; p=0.002). However, when patients with CHB were subdivided into those receiving and not receiving AVT, the AUROC value decreased slightly in patients with CHB receiving AVT compared to those without not receiving AVT (0.707; p=0.001 vs 0.779; p=0.001).
Conclusions
Despite a slight attenuation, the diagnostic accuracy of the HSI in patients with CHB receiving AVT in detecting hepatic steatosis was still acceptable. Further large-scale studies are required for validation.

Keyword

Hepatic steatosis index; Fatty liver; Hepatitis B; Antiviral therapy; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease