Vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) was the first non-invasive method used for assessing liver fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease. Over the years, many studies have evaluated its performance. It is now used globally, and, in some countries, it represents the primary step in evaluating liver fibrosis. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of VCTE and highlight the prevalence of liver fibrosis stages assessed by VCTE in a large cohort of patients at a single study center. We also aimed to observe the trends in liver stiffness (LS) values over the years according to each type of hepatopathy. A retrospective study was conducted over a period of 13 years (2007-2019) and included patients who presented to our clinic for LS measurements (LSMs), either with known liver diseases or with suspected liver pathology who were undergoing fibrosis screening. The database contained a total of 23,420 measurements. Valid LSMs were obtained in 90.91% (21,291/23,420) of the cases, while 2129 (9.09%) of the measurements were either failed or unreliable. In untreated patients with chronic viral hepatitis, LS values tended to increase during the years, while in patients undergoing antiviral therapy LS values significantly decreased. Our comprehensive study, one of the largest of its kind spanning 13 years, emphasizes the reliability and significance of VCTE in real-world clinical settings.
Keywords: liver diseases; liver fibrosis; liver stiffness; non-invasive assessment.