LAUSR

Bloom et al., 2018 Community testing for fibrosis severity Community testing for fibrosis severity In order to reach the World Health Organization goal of hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination, Australia has already expanded the role of primary care with an attempt to prioritise those with advanced HCV-induced liver disease, because they are at the highest risk of liver-related morbidity and mortality. However, as advanced liver disease often remains undetected, and its prevalence in primary care management is unknown, Bloom et al. were interested to evaluate liver stiffness measurement (LSM) as a screening tool to detect individuals with advanced liver disease and predict liverrelated events in a prospective cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis C recruited from 21 primary care practices. Quite surprisingly, the rate of advanced fibrosis in the community, although often underdiagnosed, was comparable to rates seen in specialist referral centres, and nearly 10% of those with advanced fibrosis (LSM ≥12.5 kPa) suffered from a liver-related event. This study supports the use of LSM as a community screening tool for the HCV-infected population and indicates a possible role in predicting liver-related events.