Fatty Liver?? Go For Fibroscan

Dr. Rakesh Gupta, HOD & Sr. Consultant, Gastroenterology, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences.

The liver is a vital organ its main job is to filter the blood coming from the digestive tract, before passing it to the rest of the body. Excessive alcohol intake, infection by hepatitis B and C viruses, diabetes, certain drugs, and biliary diseases, may cause liver fibrosis. Our Faulty Lifestyle also leads to deposition of Fat in the Liver.

Normally, most liver disease patients would require undergoing a liver biopsy to look for liver fibrosis. A liver biopsy involves putting a needle into the liver to take a small piece of the liver for evaluation, that it is an invasive test, and it is associated with certain risks, such as pain and risk of internal bleeding. Asian Institute of Medical Sciences has Introduced Fibroscan, by which we can assess for live fibrosis non-invasively. Fibroscan is a new technology which utilizes a form of ultrasonography to measure the extent of liver disease without entering it. This makes an assessment of the severity of liver disease very simple and non-invasive. In the same Session Fibrosis & steatosis quantification can also be done.

In Fibroscan, an ultrasound like probe is placed on the skin over the liver area, just by pressing a button the ultrasound probe sends a shear wave into the liver and detects the stiffness of the liver. Fibroscan will be useful for all patients suffering from chronic liver diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic hepatitis, and cirrhosis. The test takes only 5—7 minutes to perform, it is significantly less expensive than liver biopsy, and it has not been associated with any side effects. After the Diagnosis, the patient can immediately go back to home as there is no cutting, no anesthesia, even patient don’t feel any kind of pain.

Content Reviewed by – Asian Hospital Medical Editors

 

Share