Ultrasonographic diagnosis of degree of chronic type C liver disease

We propose a method, named US score, for semi-quantitative determination of the stage of chronic type C liver disease by ultrasonography.

The subjects were 454 patients with chronic type C liver disease. Of the patients with chronic hepatitis C, 208 underwent US-guided or laparoscopic liver biopsy. US score was the sum of the scores representing five morphological variables, to be evaluated semi-quantitatively, and change in US score with chronic liver disease progression was determined.

The average US score was 2.5 +/- 0.4 for F0, 2.8 +/- 0.6 for F1, 3.0 +/- 0.6 for F2, 3.7 +/- 0.9 for F3 and 5.5 +/- 0.8 for F4. There was a significant correlation between US score and the degree of fibrosis of chronic hepatitis C as assessed by the new European classification (p<0.0001). The average US score was 5.6 +/- 0.9 for Child A, 6.6 +/- 1.1 for Child B, and 7.8 +/- 0.7 for Child C. There was a significant correlation between US score and the results of classification by Child-Turcotte criteria (p<0.0001).

These results suggest that US score is a stable, convenient method of evaluating the degree of progression of chronic type C liver disease.