Standardization of Flow Cytometric Immunophenotyping for Hematological Malignancies: The FranceFlow Group Experience.

Flow cytometry is broadly used for the identification, characterization, and monitoring of hematological malignancies. However, the use of clinical flow cytometry is restricted by its lack of reproducibility across multiple centers. Since 2006, the EuroFlow consortium has been developing a standardized procedure detailing the whole process from instrument settings to data analysis.

Independent prospective multicenter validation of biochemical markers (fibrotest-actitest) for the prediction of liver fibrosis and activity in patients with chronic hepatitis C: the fibropaca study.

Objectives: Fibrotest (FT) and Actitest (AT) are biochemical markers of fibrosis and activity for use as a non-invasive alternative to liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). The aim of this study was to perform an external validation of FT and AT and to study the discordances between FT/AT and liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Methods: A total of 519 consecutive patients with chronic HCV were prospectively included in five centers, with liver biopsy and biochemical markers taken at the same day.

Accuracy of hyaluronic acid level for predicting liver fibrosis stages in patients with hepatitis C virus.

Background: In patients with chronic hepatitis C virus, liver biopsy is the gold standard for assessing liver disease stage; nevertheless, it is prone to complications, some of them serious. Non-invasive methods have been proposed as surrogate markers for liver fibrosis. It was shown that serum hyaluronic acid (HA) level increases with the development for liver fibrosis.