3 mL (2 mL min.) Whole blood from 1 Lavender Top (EDTA) tube AND 2 mL (1 mL min.) Serum from 1 SST. Ship refrigerated. DO NOT FREEZE.
IFCC, Electrical Impedence
Daily
FIB-4 index is a mathematical calculation which incorporates routine clinical and laboratory parameters like Age, AST, ALT and Platelet count into a single score. It is a useful marker of liver fibrosis with a sensitivity and specificity of 64% and 68% respectively for significant fibrosis. For cirrhosis the sensitivity and specificity are 90% and 58% respectively. Liver biopsy is considered the gold standard for assessing liver fibrosis in Chronic Hepatitis patients. However, being an invasive procedure, it has some limitations. FIB-4 on the other hand, offers a simple, inexpensive and non-invasive alternative to assess liver fibrosis. This index takes consideration of the facts that elevation of AST more than ALT is related to mitochondrial injury associated with advanced fibrosis and thrombocytopenia is associated with progression of fibrosis.