Fibrosis-4 index predicts cirrhosis risk and liver-related mortality in 2075 patients with chronic HBV infection

BACKGROUND Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) is a surrogate marker for hepatic fibrosis in hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers. AIM To investigate whether FIB-4 index stratifies the risks of adverse liver events. METHODS A total of 2075 treatment-naive, noncirrhotic the patients with chronic HBV infection were included. Most of them (82.1%) were HBeAg-negative patients and their baseline FIB-4 levels were explored to stratify the risks of cirrhosis, cirrhosis-related complications and liver-related mortality. RESULTS During a mean follow-up period of 15.47 years, we found a higher baseline FIB-4 index was associated with increased incidence rates of cirrhosis in addition to the common host and viral factors. Patients with FIB-4 >1.29, compared to those with FIB-4