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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Quentin AnsteeORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.Background: Liver histopathologic assessment is the accepted surrogate endpoint in NASH trials; however, the scoring of NASH Clinical Research Network (CRN) histologic parameters is limited by intraobserver and interobserver variability. We designed a consensus panel approach to minimize variability when using this scoring system. We assessed agreement between readers, estimated linear weighted kappas between 2 panels, compared them with published pairwise kappa estimates, and addressed how agreement or disagreement might impact the precision and validity of the surrogate efficacy endpoint in NASH trials. Methods: Two panels, each comprising 3 liver fellowship-trained pathologists who underwent NASH histology training, independently evaluated scanned whole slide images, scoring fibrosis, inflammation, hepatocyte ballooning, and steatosis from baseline and month 18 biopsies for 100 patients from the precirrhotic NASH study REGENERATE. The consensus score for each parameter was defined as agreement by ≥2 pathologists. If consensus was not reached, all 3 pathologists read the slide jointly to achieve a consensus score. Results: Between the 2 panels, the consensus was 97%-99% for steatosis, 91%-93% for fibrosis, 88%-92% for hepatocyte ballooning, and 84%-91% for inflammation. Linear weighted kappa scores between panels were similar to published NASH CRN values. Conclusions: A panel of 3 trained pathologists independently scoring 4 NASH CRN histology parameters produced high consensus rates. Interpanel kappa values were comparable to NASH CRN metrics, supporting the accuracy and reproducibility of this method. The high concordance for fibrosis scoring was reassuring, as fibrosis is predictive of liver-specific outcomes and all-cause mortality.
Author(s): Sanyal AJ, Loomba R, Anstee QM, Ratziu V, Kowdley KV, Rinella ME, Harrison SA, Resnick MB, Capozza T, Sawhney S, Shelat N, Younossi ZM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Hepatology Communications
Year: 2024
Volume: 8
Issue: 1
Online publication date: 01/01/2024
Acceptance date: 21/09/2023
Date deposited: 04/04/2024
ISSN (print): 2471-254x
ISSN (electronic): 2471-254x
Publisher: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
URL: https://doi.org/10.1097/HC9.0000000000000325
DOI: 10.1097/HC9.0000000000000325
Data Access Statement: All data supporting the findings of this analysis are available within the article. The REGENERATE study is ongoing at the time of publication, and, owing to its proprietary nature, data from the study will not be made publicly available.
PubMed id: 38126958
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