FLASH involved in a multi-centre study published in AP&T
The new study shows that digital assistance improves physician’s accuracy to predict who will develop complication to cirrhosis and die from alcohol-related liver disease. The study was conducted in collaboration with one of the world's most famous institutions for liver research, The Sheila Sherlock Liver Center in London.
In the study, we have examined 386 patients with excessive use of alcohol. We used a digital technique to assist the histological assessment of quantifying magnitude of scar tissue in the liver. This technique “collagen proportionate area” turned out to be a strong predictor of who will progress to decompensated cirrhosis and died of liver disease. We believe that CPA is suitable as the primary histological outcome measurement in clinical studies of ALD. In a broader sense, given the prognostic significance of CPA, we argue that it should be routinely performed and reported in any patient who is having a liver biopsy for clinical or research purposes as it provides valuable additional information. The study included patients from FLASH, The Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre in London and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Australia.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 668031 (the GALAXY project) and from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Challenge Grant “MicrobLiver” grant number NNF15OC0016692.