Fibro Scan

Fibroscan is a non-invasive test that helps assess the health of your liver. Specifically, it uses ultrasound technology to determine the degree of fibrosis or scarring that may be present in your liver from various liver diseases or conditions.

FibroScan® is superior to ultrasound for the detection of liver scarring and therefore may be used to determine if cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis is present at the initial assessment and whether it has developed during follow up because of disease progression.

A Fibroscan measures liver fibrosis or “scarring”, which is essentially liver damage that is often the result of metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic viral hepatitis or excess alcohol intake.

Because Fibroscan is a noninvasive test, it can be performed at the point of care, there is no pain, and sedation is not required.

MRI based MR Elastography (MRE) has been shown to be a promising technique for the detection of liver fibrosis (38-41). TE and MRE are the most commonly used elastography techniques for the assessment of liver fibrosis.

Fibrosis can develop into advanced scarring (cirrhosis) or liver cancer. FibroScan is an easy, non-invasive test to detect fatty liver.

Ultrasound elastography is a special ultrasound technique to test for liver fibrosis. The movement of the liver caused by ultrasound wave is measured in the middle of the liver, and its stiffness (or elasticity) is calculated. Fibrotic livers are stiffer and moves to a greater degree compared to normal livers.

Please do not eat or drink anything for two hours before your fibroscan. If you need to, you can take small sips of water or clear fluid, but avoid drinking large amounts of fluid.

The normal range for a FibroScan is between 2 to 7 kPa. The average normal result is 5.3 kPa. Your liver doctor/NP will explain these results to find out how much scarring you have.

Fibrosis scores range from 0 to 4, with 0 showing no signs of fibrosis and 4 showing the presence of cirrhosis. Middle scores, such as 3, show that fibrosis has spread and has connected to other areas on the liver that contain fibrosis.

If your doctor thinks you may have fatty liver disease, he or she will order several tests to verify the diagnosis and determine how much of your liver is affected.
You might start with blood tests to check your liver enzymes. Elevated liver enzymes are an indicator of certain health conditions, including fatty liver. Next, an ultrasound or CT of your liver can help identify abnormalities on the liver.
If liver enzymes are elevated and an ultrasound or CT show abnormalities, the next step is a traditionally a biopsy. To do a biopsy, a doctor inserts a needle into your liver to remove a small piece of tissue. The tissue sample will be sent to a lab where to be examined under a microscope.
A traditional biopsy can determine the diagnosis of fatty liver by ruling out other conditions. It can also help determine the severity of the damage to the liver.
Because a biopsy is an invasive procedure, there are certain risks, like pain, infection, bleeding, and other more serious complications.

A newer technique for diagnosing fatty liver disease uses a specialized ultrasound-based machine to measure scarring and fat buildup, called fatty change, in your liver. Like other ultrasound exams, FibroScan is painless, easy, and quick. And because it’s non-invasive, it doesn’t come with the same risks as an invasive biopsy.
A FibroScan doesn’t require any special preparation, although you may be asked not to eat or drink for a few hours before the FibroScan. It is completely painless, no sedation is necessary, and it only takes a few minutes to complete. After a FibroScan, you’ll be back on your feet in minutes with no recovery time or special instructions.

The patient can immediately go back to home or work since there is no pain, no injection, no cutting, no anesthesia required for this procedure.