Topic Highlight
Copyright ©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 14, 2014; 20(10): 2613-2623
Published online Mar 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i10.2613
Non-invasive prediction of forthcoming cirrhosis-related complications
Wonseok Kang, Seung Up Kim, Sang Hoon Ahn
Wonseok Kang, Seung Up Kim, Sang Hoon Ahn, Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Wonseok Kang, Seung Up Kim, Sang Hoon Ahn, Liver Cirrhosis Clinical Research Center, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Author contributions: Kang W and Kim SU contributed equally to this work; Kang W and Kim SU contributed to the concept and design of the study, literature search, analysis and interpretation of data and drafting of the manuscript; Ahn SH contributed to the concept and design of the study, drafting of the manuscript, obtained funding and supervised the study.
Supported by The Liver Cirrhosis Clinical Research Center, a grant from the Korea Healthcare Technology RandD Project, Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea, No. HI10C2020; the Bilateral International Collaborative RandD Program from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, South Korea
Correspondence to: Sang Hoon Ahn, MD, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, South Korea. ahnsh@yuhs.ac
Telephone: +82-2-22281936 Fax: +82-2-3936884
Received: November 8, 2013
Revised: January 4, 2014
Accepted: February 17, 2014
Published online: March 14, 2014
Processing time: 124 Days and 6.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: In this article, we summarized recent longitudinal studies of non-invasive methods - including transient elastography, European Liver Fibrosis scoring system, Fibrotest, and acoustic radiation force impulse technique - for predicting forthcoming complications related to liver cirrhosis. We also discussed the clinical value of currently available non-invasive methods based on evidence from the literature and finally proposed areas for future research directions.