The enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) assay is superior to two other measures of liver health in predicting the risk of death among women coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus . Publishing their findings in the journal AIDS, researchers conducted a prospective, multicenter study of 381 women in the Interagency HIV Study who were followed for an average of 8.3 years.

The cohort had a cumulative 2,296 ELF measurements. A total of 134 of the women died, including 60 percent who had severe liver fibrosis.

The researchers found that ELF was best able to predict the risk of death within one year of death, as well as one to three years before, compared with the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio (APRI) and the FIB-4 system.

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