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World J Hepatol. Nov 27, 2021; 13(11): 1663-1676
Published online Nov 27, 2021. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i11.1663
Elastography as a predictor of liver cirrhosis complications after hepatitis C virus eradication in the era of direct-acting antivirals
Lucia Cerrito, Maria Elena Ainora, Alberto Nicoletti, Matteo Garcovich, Laura Riccardi, Maurizio Pompili, Antonio Gasbarrini, Maria Assunta Zocco
Lucia Cerrito, Maria Elena Ainora, Alberto Nicoletti, Matteo Garcovich, Laura Riccardi, Maurizio Pompili, Antonio Gasbarrini, Maria Assunta Zocco, CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, Catholic University of Rome (Italy), Rome 00168, Italy
Author contributions: Cerrito L, Ainora ME and Zocco MA designed the review and revised the manuscript; Cerrito L and Nicoletti A drafted the manuscript; Cerrito L, Garcovich M and Riccardi L performed the scientific literature research; Pompili M and Gasbarrini A revised the manuscript critically for intellectual content; all authors have approved the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Maria Assunta Zocco, MD, PhD, Doctor, Senior Researcher, CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, Catholic University of Rome (Italy), Largo Agostino Gemelli 8, Rome 00168, Italy.mariaazocco@hotmail.com
Received: March 31, 2021
Peer-review started: March 31, 2021
First decision: June 23, 2021
Revised: July 8, 2021
Accepted: August 17, 2021
Article in press: August 17, 2021
Published online: November 27, 2021
Processing time: 237 Days and 19.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Direct-acting antiviral agents lead to hepatitis C virus eradication and to the regression of liver inflammation. However, they do not eliminate the risk of possible portal hypertension-related complications and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), increasing the necessity for post-sustained virological response surveillance and the development of non-invasive predictive models to detect the categories of patients requiring more intensive follow-up. Many studies reported a significant reduction in liver fibrosis markers after treatment with direct-acting antiviral drugs. Ultrasound elastography is gaining growing importance as a predictive element in the assessment of the risk of developing esophageal varices or gastrointestinal bleeding, liver functional decompensation and HCC.