Noninvasive diagnosis of periportal fibrosis in schistosomiasis mansoni: A comprehensive review

Table 1 Major advantages and limitations of noninvasive periportal fibrosis markers in Schistosomiasis mansoni infected patients

Feature	Liver biopsy		Serum markers	Imaging techniques
	Wedged	Percutaneous		US	pSWE	TE
Invasiveness	High	High	Minimal	None	None	None
Post-procedural risk	Possible	Possible	Minimal	None	None	None
Accuracy for PPF prediction	High	Low	Medium to high	High	Good	Good
Sensitivity	High	Low	Medium	High	Medium	Medium
Interpretation	Subjective	Subjective	Objective	Subjective	Objective	Objective
Observer variability	High	High	Low	High	Not yet evaluated	Not yet evaluated
Costs	High	Medium	Depends	Medium	Medium	Medium
Limitations by anthropometric features	High	High	None	Medium	Medium	Medium
Suitability for monitoring PPF	Low	Low	High	High	High	High

PPF: Periportal fibrosis; pSWE: Point shear wave elastography; TE: Transient elastography; US: Ultrasound.