Is an improved fibroscan an indication of reversal?

[Roy1955]

Apart from slight pain under back and front right rib cage I have not had any symptoms.

I was first diagnosed with cirrhosis 2 years ago after routine bloods led to an ultrasound that showed swelling and "typical signs of cirrhosis"

I then paid for a private fibroscan and confirmed diagnosis with a 24 score.

Gave up drinking immediately.

8 months later and all bloods returned to normal and NHS agreed to do another fibroscan, the score was 10 so I asked the operator to do it again and then she got a score of 16 so I am not confident that either was accurate.

Camera down my throat indicated "varices barely noticable" they gave me a photo and pointed out 3 slight normal coloured almost flat lines.

A year later and NHS Dr will not agree to do another fibroscan and says theres no point in "chasing numbers" but seeing an improvement is important to me!

My question.

I am thinking about booking in for a private liver screen that includes bloods ultrasound and fibroscan, being honest about my past heavy drinking but not mentioning my previous diagnosis just to see if they come up with the same result. Would anyone else do this or just accept the initial diagnosis?

maybe I am in denial but this is making my mind a LOT sicker than my body is!

[Marydel63]

If I had the money , yes I would do it.

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I would have wanted to do what you are suggesting when I first had problems with my liver but not anymore. Researchers have found that FibroScan scores can drop from a maximum of 75 kPa to as low as 7 kPa after a couple of years of abstinence but when a biopsy was performed the liver was still found to be cirrhotic. I've seen posts on the forum where peoples' scores halved from 75 kPa to 36 kPa in only 4 months. I no longer trust my own FibroScan score of 4.3 kPa because my scan was done after I'd lived clean of painkillers for 6 months. Apparently the liver softens if you start living a healthy lifestyle & the FibroScan score drops reflecting this but not enough is known about whether the drop is due to healing. Even with a cirrhotic liver you'd expect some parts to be fibrotic and the fibrotic parts would heal but according to current medical opinion, not the cirrhotic part. A biopsy remains the gold standard method to determine the presence or absence of cirrhosis.

In your situation I'd live as healthy a lifestyle as possible knowing that if cirrhosis is caught early you can live a normal lifespan if you are careful.

Dr. Melissa Palmer's Guide To Hepatitis and Liver Disease:

"Some people with cirrhosis feel perfectly normal or have vague symptoms, such as fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, and loss of libido. These individuals are known as having compensated cirrhosis. People with compensated cirrhosis often live a normal life span with relatively few health-related consequences due to cirrhosis."

[Hidden]

The short answer is yes it can definately can mean that and I hope it does . However there ia another possibility which is the long form which edward1950 has explained here. Either or if it has not reversed it at least is a sign that your not inflammed and seemingly stable. Keep us posted as I would like to hear of your news following this. Also I have really questioned fi roscans lately for the reasons edward1950 has mentioned now and previously. The internet research doctors post make them seem incredibly reliable but the users on this forums results have proven otherwise to me.