The changes of liver stiffness and its associated factors for chronic hepatitis B patients with entecavir therapy

Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) using transient elastography has been proposed to assess liver fibrosis well in various liver diseases. This study was to determine the changes of LSM and its associated factors for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients undergoing Entecavir therapy. Consecutive CHB patients underwent Entecavir therapy with two LSMs were enrolled. Patients with aspartate transaminase (AST) and/or alanine transaminase ≧200 IU/L were excluded. The retrospective study enrolled 233 patients including 132 without cirrhosis (group 1) and 101 with cirrhosis (group 2). The mean values of initial liver stiffness were 7.9 and 16.6 kPa for patients in group 1 and group 2, respectively (p<0.001). In addition to the decline of transaminase levels, there was significant reduction of liver stiffness value in a mean interval of 52.8 and 61.9 weeks between the two LSMs for patients in group 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that higher initial LSM value and presence of hepatitis B e-antigen were associated with a greater decline of LSM value, whereas follow-up AST≧40 IU/L with increased LSM value for group 1 patients. For group 2 patients, longer interval between the two LSMs, higher initial LSM value and AST≧40 IU/L were associated with a greater decline of LSM value, whereas presence of diabetes mellitus (DM) contributed to increased LSM value. In conclusion, CHB patients improved their LSM values after Entecavir therapy. Higher initial LSM value contributed to greater LSM reduction. However, in cirrhotic patients, DM was associated with an increased LSM value after therapy.