Hepatic Fibrosis Assessed Using Fibrosis-4 Index Is Predictive of All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

• Main Authors: Yong SH, Leem AY, Kim YS, Park MS, Chang J, Kim SU, Jung JY
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-04-01
• Series: International Journal of COPD
• Subjects: keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; exacerbation; fib-4; liver fibrosis; mortality
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/hepatic-fibrosis-assessed-using-fibrosis-4-index-is-predictive-of-all--peer-reviewed-article-COPD

Seung Hyun Yong,1 Ah Young Leem,1 Young Sam Kim,1 Moo Suk Park,1 Joon Chang,1 Seung Up Kim,2,3 Ji Ye Jung1 1Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 3Yonsei Liver Center, Severance Hospital, Seoul, Republic of KoreaCorrespondence: Seung Up KimDepartment of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Republic of KoreaEmail [e-mail] Ye JungDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, KoreaEmail [e-mail]: Various comorbidities influence the prognosis of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We investigated if liver fibrosis assessed using fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) is associated with all-cause mortality in patients with COPD.Methods: We included 756 patients diagnosed with COPD between 2006 and 2010. Medical records were retrospectively reviewed until 2018. FIB-4 was calculated using the following equation: [age (years) × aspartate aminotransferase (IU/L)/(platelet count (109/L) × √alanine aminotransferase (IU/L))].Results: From a total of 756 patients, 582 (76.9%) patients were categorized into survivor and 174 (23.1%) into non-survivor groups. The non-survivor group was significantly older with a higher proportion of male, smoker and lower FEV1/FVC ratio than the survivor group (all P< 0.05). Various comorbidities were more frequently observed in the non-survivor group (P< 0.05). In addition, the non-survivor group had significantly higher FIB-4 than the survivor group (1.8 vs 1.4, P< 0.001). In multivariate analysis, older age (hazard ratio [HR]=1.05), underlying malignancy (HR=2.94), coronary artery occlusive disease (HR=1.58), higher FIB-4 (HR=1.15), and higher GOLD stage (HR=1.26) were significantly associated with the increased risk of all-cause mortality (P< 0.05), whereas body mass index (HR=0.95) was independently protective for all-cause mortality (all P< 0.05). The high FIB-4 (> 1.57) group showed a significantly lower cumulative survival rate than the low FIB-4 (≤ 1.05) group (P=0.031, Log-rank test). In multivariate regression analysis, higher FIB-4 independently predicted the risk of acute exacerbation (odds ratio=1.08, P=0.034).Conclusion: Higher fibrotic burden assessed using FIB-4 was independently predictive of the increased risk of all-cause mortality and acute exacerbation in patients with COPD.Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, exacerbation, FIB-4, liver fibrosis, mortality