Correlation of liver stiffness measured by FibroScan with sex and age in healthy adults undergoing physical examination / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo determine the reference range of liver stiffness in healthy population, and to investigate the influence of age and sex on liver stiffness. MethodsA total of 1794 healthy subjects who underwent physical examination in China National Petroleum Corporation Central Hospital from October 1, 2012 to October 31, 2014 were enrolled, and FibroScan was used to perform liver stiffness measurement (LSM). Since LSM value was not normally distributed, the Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare LSM value between male and female patients, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare LSM value between different age groups, and the Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between LSM value and age. The one-sided percentile method was used to determine the range of normal reference values in male and female subjects or in different age groups. ResultsLSM was successfully performed in 1590 patients, and the rate of successful measurement was 88.63%. A total of 107 patients were excluded due to abnormal liver enzymes. The analysis showed that LSM value showed a significant difference between male and female subjects (Z=-4.980, P＜0.001), as well as between different age groups (χ2=16.983, P=0.001). Age was positively correlated with LSM value (r=0.087, P=0.001). The reference range was estimated to be ≤7.1 kPa in adults, ≤7.0 kPa in females, and ≤7.2 kPa in males. From the perspective of age, the reference range was estimated to be ≤6.8 kPa in persons aged 20-29 years, ≤6.7 kPa in persons aged 30-44 years, ≤7.8 kPa in persons aged 45-59 years, and ≤8.8 kPa in persons aged 60-74 years. ConclusionLiver stiffness value is influenced by sex and age. Sex and age should be taken into account while performing liver stiffness measurement in healthy subjects.