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Updated: Jun 23, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancing Hepatic Fibrosis Diagnosis Using Magnetic Resonance Elastography and AI
Published on: July 21, 2023
Machine Learning-Based Models for Advanced Fibrosis and Cirrhosis Diagnosis in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients With
Fajuan Rui1, Liang Xu2, Yee Hui Yeo3
1Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China; Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China; Institute of Viruses and Infectious Diseases, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Background And Aims:
The global rise of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) superimposed on hepatic steatosis (HS) warrants noninvasive, precise tools for assessing fibrosis progression. This study leveraged machine learning (ML) to develop diagnostic models for advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in this patient population.
Methods:
Treatment-naive CHB patients with concurrent HS who underwent liver biopsy in 10 medical centers were enrolled as a training cohort and an independent external validation cohort (NCT05766449). Six ML models were implemented to predict advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis. The final models, derived from SHAP (Shapley Additive exPlanations), were compared with Fibrosis-4 Index, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Fibrosis Score, and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index using the area under receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and decision curve analysis (DCA).
Results:
Of 1,198 eligible patients, the random forest model achieved AUROCs of 0.778 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.749-0.807) for diagnosing advanced fibrosis (random forest advanced fibrosis model) and 0.777 (95% CI, 0.748-0.806) for diagnosing cirrhosis (random forest cirrhosis model) in the training cohort, and maintained high AUROCs in the validation cohort. In the training cohort, the random forest advanced fibrosis model obtained an AUROC of 0.825 (95% CI, 0.787-0.862) in patients with hepatitis B virus DNA ≥105 IU/mL, and the random forest cirrhosis model had an AUROC of 0.828 (95% CI, 0.774-0.883) in female patients. The 2 models outperformed Fibrosis-4 Index, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Fibrosis Score, and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index in the training cohort, and also performed well in the validation cohort.
Conclusions:
The random forest models provide reliable, noninvasive tools for identifying advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in CHB patients with concurrent HS, offering a significant advancement in the comanagement of the 2 diseases.
Clinicaltrials:
gov, Number: NCT05766449.
