Transient elastography and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for assessment of liver fibrosis in children with chronic hepatitis C

Table 2 Liver stiffness, and liver and spleen apparent diffusion coefficient in different fibrosis stages

Noninvasive parameter	F1, n = 17	F2, n = 36	F3, n = 11	aP value
LSM (kPa)	4.04 ± 1.41	4.98 ± 1.63	7.20 ± 5.21	0.034
	bP = 0.096	cP = 0.035
Liver ADC (mm2/s)	1.12 ± 0.24	1.15 ± 0.23	0.95 ± 0.22	0.039
	bP = 0.0787	cP = 0.017
Spleen ADC (mm2/s)	1.12 ± 0.23	1.01 ± 0.15	0.99 ± 0.26	0.271
Normalized liver ADC	1.01 ± 0.22	1.16 ± 0.23	0.99 ± 0.25	0.036
	bP = 0.033	cP = 0.016
APRI score	0.44 ± 0.42	0.48 ± 0.29	0.38 ± 0.37	0.332
FIB-4 score	0.34 ± 0.30	0.34 ± 0.15	0.22 ± 0.16	0.083

^aP: Significance among the three groups by Kruskal-Wallis test.

^bP: F1 vs F2.

^cP: F2 vs F3.

ADC: Apparent diffusion coefficient; APRI: Aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio; FIB-4: Fibrosis-4 index; LSM: Liver stiffness measurement.