Diagnosis of the stage of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis c is essential for making a prognosis and deciding on antiviral therapy. A new diagnostic test, called FibroIndex, which consists of a series of simple blood tests, may be a non-invasive alternative to liver biopsy when diagnosing fibrosis.

The results showed that FibroIndex was more accurate in predicting significant or severe fibrosis than Forns' index or APRI. By determining cutoff values to identify the absence or presence of significant fibrosis, the study found that 101 patients could have avoided a liver biopsy. In addition, the FibroIndex was applied to a subgroup of 30 patients treated with interferon who underwent a second biopsy more than one year after treatment. Changes in FibroIndex were found to correlate with changes in fibrosis, while APRI and Forns' index did not show this correlation. FibroIndex was also accurate in patients with normal levels of the liver enzyme ALT, one third of whom had significant fibrosis.

Since the blood tests for the predictors used by FibroIndex are routinely available in most hospitals and laboratories, it makes FibroIndex a simple and accessible tool for predicting significant fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C and could also be used as a surrogate marker during antifibrotic treatment for chronic hepatitis C.