Table 2.

Comparison of Liver Fibrosis Measurements

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Serum Biomarkers	Can be performed in an outpatient clinic Reproducible Well validated	Nonspecific to the liver Poor at discriminating between intermediate stages of fibrosis Affected by inflammation, hemolysis, Gilbert syndrome
Transient Elastography	Can be performed in an outpatient clinic Reproducible Well validated	Not readily available unless the provider already has the equipment Limited in patients with obesity, ascites, inflammation Poor at discriminating between intermediate stages of fibrosis
Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging	Can be implemented on a standard ultrasound machine Examined area is smaller than that needed with transient elastography Similar sensitivity/specificity to transient elastography	Stiffness values measured in m/s vs kPa Poor at discriminating between intermediate stages of fibrosis
Magnetic Resonance Elastography	Can be implemented on a standard magnetic resonance imaging machine Evaluates entire liver Similar sensitivity/specificity to transient elastography	Requires magnetic resonance imaging capabilities Costly Limited in cases of iron overload