Fibroscan accuracy

[deelof]

I had a fibroscan test which gave me a score of 19! The technician said I definitely had fibrosis if not worse. I was very frightened by this . Then I had a biopsy which was clear; no trace of fatty liver, fibrosis or cirrhosis. My consultant said not to rely on fibroscans as they can give misleading results especially without a doctor who sees test results in the context of medical history. I never want to have a fibroscan test again although I am very careful about my health and am not overweight

[mncold]

Hi deelof,

I have no idea how accurate a fibroscan is, my hubby is the one with cirrhosis and has not had a fibroscan.

I would say listen to your doctor and it never hurts to get a 2nd opinion if you are unsure about the answers you get - if that is possible for you.

Biopsies are a small look at a larger base and might not have hit on a problem area. You didn't say why you had a biopsy. It is my understanding [you should double check this] that a fibroscan result is about the whole liver, not just part, but a biopsy is taking a very small sample that might miss the area that is fibrous.

I am pretty sure blood tests and ultrasound could also be used for diagnosing, but you should talk more with your doctor if you are unsure. Or try to get a 2nd opinion if possible.

Best wishes,

Mary

[deelof in reply to mncold]

Dear Mary,

Thank you very much for your kind reply and advice. My surgeon took samples from different places in the liver and nothing untoward was found. The consultant, in my follow up appointment, said that the biopsy was really the "gold standard" diagnostic tool. As a result of the biopsy, he signed me off and said not to be concerned about the fibroscan as he thought it inaccurate. In the future, I've been advised to not have more than one blood test a year to check all is ok.

Best wishes,

Dee

[mncold in reply to deelof]

Hi Dee,

I see there are peope here who have more knowledge than I do, so we have both learned new things.

Best wishes,

Mary

[deelof in reply to mncold]

Thank you Mary and I am wishing the best to you with your husband's health problems.

[AyrshireK]

A liver doctor speaking at a recent Auto-Immune Hepatitis UK seminar in London said the following regarding Fibroscan - "Don’t put too much emphasis on results. The numbers can be confusing. It measures liver stiffness which can be increased by scarring, inflammation and eating. It can’t distinguish between inflammation and scarring. There is also a fair amount of variance from day to day’".

[deelof in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks very much for your reply, it is so interesting to hear all the knowledge people have on this forum.

[Hidden]

A score of 19 when there was no fibrosis or cirrhosis found with a biopsy suggests that the FibroScan machine was faulty & needed recalibrating or the technician that administered the FibroScan was incompetent. Either that or there was something very peculiar going on with your liver at the time of the scan! A FibroScan score of 19 would normally indicate cirrhosis. FibroScans are supposed to be accurate at determining if a liver is cirrhotic but not so accurate at measuring the degree of fibrosis. It would be interesting to see what score you got from a FibroScan at another place. You'd expect it to be less than 7 kPa given what the biopsy found.

[deelof in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. Yes, but I don't really want another Fibroscan after my experience of the first one. I am just being extremely careful at looking after my health now after this fright. Not that I was careless of it before.