New and little known species of the genus Parapholidoptera Maran (Insecta, Orthoptera)

Material of species of the genus Parapholidoptera Maran is presented. New records of P. noxia (Ramme) are reported from Georgia, P. georgiae sp. n. from Georgia and P. kalashiani sp. n. from Armenia are described, P. syriaca is newly reported from Lebano

Comparison of point-shear wave elastography (ElastPQ) and transient elastography (FibroScan) for liver fibrosis staging in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Background and Aims: ElastPQ is a point shear wave elastography technique used to non-invasively assess liver fibrosis. We compared liver stiffness measurements (LSM) by ElastPQ and fibroscan transient elastography (F-TE) in a cohort of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We further evaluated the performance of ElastPQ in a subgroup of patients with available liver histology. Materials and Methods: We included patients with NAFLD who presented in a dedicated multidisciplinary clinic. Anthropometric parameters, blood tests and elastography measurements were obtained using F-TE and ElastPQ as part of routine clinical care. Results: We enrolled 671 patients with NAFLD, mean age 55.8 ± 13 years, body mass index (BMI) 31.5 ± 5.7 kg/m2, 56.6% males, 41% diabetes, 53.7% hypertension, 68% dyslipidaemia. ElastPQ showed an excellent correlation with F-TE (Spearman's r = 0.80, p 2 kPa discrepancy between the two techniques were a larger waist circumference and F-TE ≥10 kPa. In the subgroup of 159 patients with available histology, ElastPQ showed similar diagnostic accuracy with F-TE in staging liver fibrosis (ElastPQ area under the curves 0.84, 0.83, 0.86 and 0.95, for F ≥ 1, F ≥ 2, F ≥ 3 and F = 4 respectively). Optimal cut-off values of ElastPQ for individual fibrosis stages were lower than those of F-TE. Conclusions: ElastPQ shows an excellent correlation with F-TE in patients with NAFLD, which was better for lower LSM. The optimal cut-off values of ElastPQ are lower than those of F-TE for individual stages of fibrosis. ElastPQ has similar diagnostic accuracy to F-TE for all stages of fibrosis