Is laparoscopy an advantage in the diagnosis of cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis C virus infection?

Table 1 Outcome of macroscopic laparoscopic exploration and histological analysis in 72 patients with chronic HCV infection

Histology (fibrosis stage score)	Laparoscopy
	Patients without signs of cirrhosis (n = 51)	Patients with signs of cirrhosis (n = 21)
Fibrosis I	30	3
Fibrosis II	16	4
Fibrosis III	5	6
Cirrhosis	0	8

Absent portal fibrosis was judged as fibrosis score I (HAI^b = 0, no fibrosis), mild to moderate fibrosis as stage II (HAI^b = 1, fibros portal expansion), marked fibrosis as stage III (HAI^b = 3, bridg-ing fibrosis), and complete fibrosis as cirrhosis (HAI^b = 4).