However, considerable expenses and use of uncommon parameters reduce practical utility. A few years later, the Forns’ score (age, GGT, cholesterol, platelets, and prothrombin)5 and the APRI index (AST and platelets)6 overcame these drawbacks by use of only standard laboratory tests in the development of their predictive models. Subsequent models

include the ELF-score,7 the Hepascore8 and the Fibrometer.9 Validation of these models selleck compound in cohorts of CHC patients revealed reliable information on liver fibrosis in about one-third of patients. Still, the APRI and the Forns’ score, although slightly less accurate, offer the benefit of simplicity for use.10,11 Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is the most frequent infectious cause of CLD worldwide. More than 400 million people are chronically infected with HBV. The virus is responsible for more than 300 000 cases of liver cancer every year and for similar numbers of gastrointestinal hemorrhage and ascites.12 Predictive models designed especially

for CHB patients have been proposed Selleckchem MAPK Inhibitor Library by the Shanghai Liver Fibrosis Group (SLFG),13 Hui et al.14 and Mohamadnejad et al.15 But few of these models mentioned above have been widely validated and implemented in clinical practice. The aim of the present study was to generate a simple, noninvasive model for predicting liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infection based on routine laboratory markers and compare its diagnostic value with that of some typical models, in order to provide references for introducing the noninvasive predictive model into clinical management of patients with chronic HBV infection. A total of 386 patients was selected in the training cohort from a total of 513 consecutive chronic HBV

carriers who underwent a percutaneous liver biopsy in the hospitals of the SLFG13 from 1999 to 2001. Chronic HBV carriers were defined as persons who had positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) for at least 6 months before enrolling.16 Exclusion criteria included co-infection with medchemexpress HIV or HCV, alcohol consumption >30 g/day, other causes of chronic liver disease, previous antiviral treatment, and insufficient biopsy samples. Another group of 146 consecutive chronic HBV carriers who underwent a liver biopsy in three hospitals (Renji Hospital, Shanghai; Southeast Hospital, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province; and Taizhou People’s Hospital, Jiangsu Province) between 2005 and 2007 were prospectively enrolled in the validation cohort, using the same criteria. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from each patient. All patients received a liver biopsy directed by ultrasonography within 1 week after inclusion.