Portal Venous Pulsatility Index: A Novel Biomarker for Diagnosis of High-Risk Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of portal vein pulsatility for noninvasive diagnosis of high-risk nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). MATERIALS AND METHODS. This retrospective study included patients with biopsy-proven diagnosis of NAFLD who underwent duplex Doppler ultrasound assessment of the main portal vein within 1 year of liver biopsy (January 2014 to February 2018). Doppler ultrasound images were reviewed. The spectral waveform was used to measure the maximum (Vmax) and minimum (Vmin) velocity of blood in the portal veins. Venous pulsatility index (VPI) defined as (Vmax - Vmin) / Vmax was calculated. ROC curve analysis was used to calculate AUC as a measure of accuracy to determine the value of this index for diagnosis of high-risk NAFLD and compared with that of the following four clinical decision aids: NAFLD fibrosis score (FS), fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), BARD score (body mass index, aspartate aminotransferase [AST]-to-alanine aminotransferase ratio, diabetes mellitus), and AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI). The value of adding VPI to these indexes was also investigated. RESULTS. Of 123 study subjects, 33 (26.8%) had high-risk NAFLD and were found to have a lower VPI than the other 90 subjects (0.19 vs 0.32; p < 0.001). VPI, NAFLD FS, FIB-4, and APRI had statistically significant diagnostic values for high-risk NAFLD. VPI had the highest optimism-corrected AUC (VPI, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.77-0.91]; NAFLD FS, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.63-0.83]; FIB-4, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.72-0.89]; APRI, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.61-0.82]). Addition of VPI to any of the four scoring systems significantly improved the diagnostic value of the score for high-risk NAFLD. CONCLUSION. VPI may be an accurate noninvasive biomarker for diagnosis of high-risk NAFLD.