Current Imaging Techniques for Noninvasive Staging of Hepatic Fibrosis

The purpose of this article is to discuss quantitative methods of CT, MRI, and ultrasound (US) for noninvasive staging of hepatic fibrosis. Hepatic fibrosis is the hallmark of chronic liver disease (CLD), and staging by random liver biopsy is invasive and prone to sampling errors and subjectivity. Several noninvasive quantitative imaging methods are under development or in clinical use. The accuracy, precision, technical aspects, advantages, and disadvantages of each method are discussed. The most promising methods are the liver surface nodularity score using CT and measurement of liver stiffness using MR elastography or US elastography.