A Study of Comparison of Non-Invasive Fibrosis Scores and Ultrasound with Liver Biopsy for Evaluating Liver Fibrosis in Morbidly Obese Patients Undergoing Bariatric Surgery

Obesity has emerged as a global epidemic. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease can progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Efforts to detect liver fibrosis early is crucial for effective intervention and preventing advanced stages like cirrhosis or liver failure. Liver Biopsy is gold standard for diagnosing liver fibrosis. The study assesses the efficacy of ultrasonography and non-invasive methods, including AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) and NAFLD Score, in patients with morbid obesity scheduled for bariatric surgery. A prospective observational study was conducted among 53 patients having morbid obesity and who were planned to undergo bariatric surgery. Pre-operative ultrasound (USG) and invasive scores, such as FIB-4 and APRI, were found to be inadequate screening tools for diagnosing advanced liver fibrosis in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Conversely, the NAFLD score proved to be an excellent tool for this purpose.