Characteristics of liver biopsy for each algorithm, when liver biopsy is required, and in the overall population.

<p>Characteristics of liver biopsy for each algorithm, when liver biopsy is required, and in the overall population.</p

Scores from the different tests and selected parameters for the 507 CHC patients having all the blood tests (intention to diagnose population) and the 396 CHC patients with all the blood tests and reliable Fibroscan^TM (per protocol population).

*<p>TIMP1: tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1; **MM1: matrix metalloproteinase-1;</p>***<p>PIIINP: N-terminal peptide of type III procollagen.</p

Economic analysis.

<p>Average cost of screening per patient (in euros) of the various combinations of tests, taking 3 levels of liver biopsy cost based on published data and the cost in our hospital: 800 Euros, 1,000 Euros and 1,200 Euros. *Cost of Fibroscan, for use equivalent to 10 acts per month. * *Cost of Fibroscan, for use equivalent to 32 acts per month.</p

Study Flow Chart.

<p>N: number of chronic hepatitis C patients with test results; and the number of patients without the test or with missing test data are shown in parentheses.</p

Proposed algorithm: automatically determined by the C4.5 program with the number of avoided liver biopsies.

<p>The bottom line gives the total number of liver biopsies avoided following one of the three most validated blood tests or Fibroscan followed by the ELFG test for those patients for whom the first test was not conclusive. N: number of patients; F: Metavir liver biopsy Fibrosis score; NPV: Negative Predictive Value with the cut-off in parentheses; PPV: Positive Predictive Value with the cut-off range in brackets. * = cut-off = >−0.32; ** = per protocol analysis.</p

Comparison between proposed algorithm, with ELFG, and published algorithms (that include Fibroscan^TM) in terms of number of patients with avoided liver biopsies.

<p>Comparison between proposed algorithm, with ELFG, and published algorithms (that include Fibroscan^TM) in terms of number of patients with avoided liver biopsies.</p