Fibrospect II Test - can someone interpret in layman's terms

[Lilla]

Going over the papers in my own medical file (which is a lot)...found my Fibrospect II test results which read:
Fibrospect II Index:   69
Clinical Interpretation:   F2-F4
Fibrospect II Index Ref. Range - 42-100 consistent with METAVIR F2-F4

My original doc. ordered this test; My latest doctor made a comment to me that if you have no fibrosis or else if you have cirrhosis, the test is fairly accurate, but anything in between is questionable.   does this sound right?   I question myself at times of what I have heard or read.

[dlr2007]

Hi- That's great that you're almost done with tx!! You must not be a genotype 1 like my hubby and I, so that means that you have a great chance of SVR. Therefore, if your body is virus-free, your liver can heal itself. You've done the best thing you could do to get rid of the hep c. I hope the sides haven't been too bad and that everything has gone well with your tx.
Best wishes and prayers,
Dee

[robleh7]

my index was 18 from an ultrasound and I guess that's great. My test results indicates being in "stage" F0-F2 to be 80.8. This is the earliest stage of fibrosis from the research I've done on the web. Still I ulcerate about this. I use the non-clinical term 'stage' for lack of a more precise term.

[flyinlynn]

Hi robleh7

this post is from 2007 and won't be seen by anyone unless they go looking like I did.

If you would like to ask a new question so it will be noticed go to the top of the page and select the red "Ask a question" link so people will see your question and possibly answer. By commenting to a 7 year old thread your comments are buried.

Just to add normally cirrhosis is not diagnosed by ultrasound except as confirmatory of other testing.

Cirrhosis can be diagnosed by liver biopsy which is  considered the gold standard for cirrhosis and level of fibrosis diagnosis. There are also new non invasive tests like Fibroscan using a machine and Fibrosure which is blood testing.

I have never heard of a numerical result related to ultrasound. A Fibroscan result would not be as high as 80 so I don't know what you have there.

F0, F1, F3, and F3 are increasing levels of fibrosis indicating increasing amounts of liver damage. Fibrosis level of F4 means cirrhosis.

[Lilla]

thank you for your reply.  since I am currently 3/4 finished with treating, my current doctor does not recommend biopsy.  My original doctor did not recommend because of my geno type.   I did have ultra sound, but know that is not the same as biopsy.    

[dlr2007]

Hi- I'm no expert on the Fibrospect II test, but both my husband and I had it done- my results were 60 and hubby's were 67. From the reliable information I've been given, my understanding is that this test simply means that we have some degree of fibrosis. My doctor said I could still be a Stage 1-  in other words the test is not accurate enough to say that with a score between 60-80 we are definitely Stage 3.
  So the bad news is that it's fairly certain we have some degree of fibrosis going on. The good news is that it may not be very severe at all. My doctor (and my husband's doc) has recommended a biopsy. I'm going for mine in August- can't wait! Seriously, I had one about 12 years ago and it wasn't so bad- I know that I need to find out what shape my liver is really in so I can treat if neccessary. Unless there is a reason that you shouldn't get a biopsy, that's what I'd do next if I were you. Good luck!
Best wishes,
-Dee

[mikesimon]

Treatment can improve fibrosis Lilla. There are many studies and articles that discuss this - just Google around. Mike

[Lilla]

thank you for info; now I guess I need to find out "is fibrosis reversible" or "does treatment help it"?  I guess the hepatic blood work panel shows nothing.  Ah, more questions for the doc.

[mikesimon]

See:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=17349453

Assessment of FIBROSpect II to detect hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C patients.

Zaman A, Rosen HR, Ingram K, Corless CL, Oh E, Smith K.

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon 97201, USA. ***@****

"BACKGROUND: The degree of liver fibrosis in patients with Hepatitis C (HCV) provides important prognostic information; however, the only current method available to obtain this information is by performing a liver biopsy. Liver biopsies are invasive, associated with complications, and costly. There has been recent interest in developing a panel of serum markers that can reliably predict the presence of fibrosis and, thus, obviate the need for a liver biopsy. Our objective was to prospectively validate a panel of serum fibrosis markers (FIBROSpect(SM) II) that has been recently developed. METHODS: Serum was obtained from 108 consecutive HCV (15% with HCV/ETOH) patients seen in a hepatology clinic at a single tertiary care center at the time of liver biopsy. The performance of FIBROSpect II (consisting of 3 fibrosis markers: hyaluronic acid, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1, and alpha-2-macroglobulin) in differentiating mild (F0-F1) from significant (F2-F4) fibrosis was assessed by comparing the panel results with performed liver biopsy. RESULTS: The prevalence of significant fibrosis in the study group was 36.1%. The diagnostic value of the serum marker panel to detect significant fibrosis as assessed by area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.826. Performance characteristics are as follows: sensitivity 71.8%, specificity 73.9%, positive predictive value 60.9%, negative predictive value 82.3%, and overall accuracy of 73.1%. CONCLUSION: This prospective study supports the clinical utility of serum markers in detecting fibrosis and validates the performance of FIBROSpect II in a prospective cohort of patients. The high negative predictive value of the test provides a reliable alternative to rule out severe fibrosis."

It appears your test results suggests significant fibrosis.
Mike