Some good news from ‘not a fibroscan’!

[Owlie]

Hi,

Well I had what I thought was going to be a fibroscan today (but it wasn’t). It was an ultrasound elastography of liver. They couldn’t tell me a lot but they did tell me that my liver is no longer enlarged and is it’s normal size and there is still fat in it. There was one number on the machine and I asked for it but it has no meaning to me. I now have to wait a couple of months to see a consultant again and this time I hope they can actually tell me something as I am so worried.

So, it’s Christmas (I feel a song coming on...!) and things have improved a bit, fingers crossed they keep improving. Merry Christmas everybody!

[Hidden]

You probably had the check for fatty liver which would produce a CAP score (which would be the number on the machine you saw & didn't know the meaning of). This will show how much fat there is in your liver. The technician could also have done the FibroScan for liver stiffness, I'm guessing using the same machine, but the doctor didn't specify it. It would only have taken a few minutes extra.

You can see the different categories for degree of fatty infiltration of the liver based on the CAP score, in the link below. S0 grade would be a CAP score below 238 dB which would mean minimal or no fat. Grades S1, S2 and S3 are increasing percentages of fatty infiltration of the liver.

mskcc.org/cancer-care/patie...

[Owlie in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for this. I did ask and was told it wasn’t a fibroscan and they were checking the stiffness. I asked if there were any numbers and was told ‘2’ but they didn’t know what that meant and I didn’t either. I am worried that I won’t be able to reverse it and having to wait is awful.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply,

Merry Christmas!

Owlie

[Hidden]

Hi Owlie,

Merry Christmas.

It sounds like you have improved your health, always annoying when you have a test and then have to wait for the results to be given to you. Maybe you could call the doctor office in a week or so and see if they can let you know how things went before your appointment.

Best wishes,

Mary

[Owlie in reply to Hidden]

Hi Mary,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I have tried but can’t access a person. Obviously they are really busy, but it is worrying when you have to wait such a long time for results especially at this time of year.

Merry Christmas!

Owlie

[Hidden in reply to Owlie]

Hi Owlie,

Arrggghh!

Holidays can put such a crimp in getting information!

Perhaps, my fingers are crossed, the week between Christmas and New Year's will allow you to find an actual person to give you some information, and if not - then hopefully the week after the New Year, maybe you will receive some info in the mail.

I guess my best and only advice would be to take comfort in that your liver is not enlarged now and you have some good news to help you enjoy the holidays [with less salt and no alcohol LOL].

Best wishes,

Mary

[Owlie in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Mary! Idon’t Drink and have changed my diet so fingers crossed!

Merry Christmas!

Owlie

[BrettS]

I had a similar thing where i requested a fibroscan and had some type of ultrasound done at a hospital the doc sent me to. It clearly wasnt the fibroscan since my result just said liver stiffness 1.36. Thats below the fibroscan scale which has a bottom number of 2. No dam info in the report, doctor left practice, hospital wont tell me what it is. What a nightmare.

[Hidden in reply to BrettS]

Sounds like you had an ARFI test it's similar to a fibroscan but uses lower scores I'm not super familiar with the test but if you Google it you can get more info.

Boone

[Owlie in reply to BrettS]

I was the same but have since had a fibroscan and seen a consultant. Are you waiting for an appointment?

[Hidden]

There are quite a few machines that use elastography to test for stiffness. Fibroscan is just the most "notorious" machine on the market. Not sure which one you had unfortunately but they would all do the same job.

[Owlie]

I’ve had both now! It would appear the ELF blood test was very close to the actual fibroscan result in the end. Thanks for the reply!