الفهرس 
Introduction and aim of the work
Patient characteristics and laboratory dataOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Background: Liver biopsy–the gold standard in assessing liver histology–is recommended before all antiviral treatment. However, this procedure may cause complications, is costly, and is limited by sampling errors. In light of the limited availability and high cost of many fibrosis markers, we aimed to create and evaluate a simple, inexpensive and non-invasive score named Biotechnology research center score (BRC’s score) utilizing routine laboratory markers (α-fetoprotein, age and platelet count) for diagnosis of liver fibrosis.
Methods: this study included 324 consecutive untreated HCV mono-infected Egyptian individuals with clinically and laboratory confirmed CHC. All patients were tested positive for the presence of HCV-RNA using quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. Liver fibrosis was staged according to the METAVIR scoring system. Statistical analysis was done using stepwise linear discriminant analysis and area under receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUCs).
Results: BRC score produced AUCs of 0.87, 0.83 and 0.89 for significant fibrosis (F2-F4), advanced fibrosis (F3-F4) and cirrhosis (F4), respectively. BRC score greater than 7.2 was 82% specific and 75% sensitive for F2-F4, BRC score greater than 8.2 was 80% specific and 67% sensitive for F3-F4 and BRC score greater than 9.2 was 86% specific and 78% sensitive for F4.
Conclusion:While liver biopsy is invasive, costly and associated with complications, BRC score is a non-invasive, inexpensive, simple and may reduce the need of liver biopsy.