Question

[Siobhan1974]

Hi , I saw my consultant last Thursday after being referred and having ultrasound due to large liver, I have cirrhosis but scarring and coarse , she said I have to have a fibroscan to see what stage I have , and I had all bloods taken , i had hepatitis ( think it was A) as a child I’m 44 , very anxious has anyone going through the same thank you

[AyrshireK]

Go with the flow and have the Fibroscan it would be handy in confirming whether or not you have reached the stage of cirrhosis (there are several stages of fibrosis before you reach cirrhosis). If you already have a diagnosis of cirrhosis it isn't going to do much more to aid diagnosis other than to confirm presence of cirrhosis or not.

It certainly won't tell you what stage of cirrhosis you have this is determined based on symptoms.

Compensated Cirrhosis

Stage 1 No Varices No Ascites

Stage 2 Varices No Ascites

Decompensated Cirrhosis

Stage 3 Ascites + / - Varices

Stage 4 Bleeding + / - Ascites

You can learn more about cirrhosis at the British Liver Trust page. britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

Hopefully they will get to the bottom of why you have cirrhosis and then you can see if there are any treatments or lifestyle things you can do to assist your liver going forward. I note you say you think you had Hep A as a child, it must have been a very acute illness if it went on to leave cirrhosis - Hep A is usually a short lived virus that is self-limiting. I would want this investigated and clarified as to what has actually caused your liver damage.

The British Liver Trust has an excellent page about living with liver disease which might prove useful too. britishlivertrust.org.uk/li...

Best wishes,

Katie