"minimal coarse echotexture of liver " - Ultrasound. LFT is normal. Does anyone know if it's reversible?

[Concernedalways]

I never drank alcohol, never smoked, never took drugs, never had hepatitis, not obese.

LFT is normal yet I'm concerned 😟. Is course echotexture of liver reversible? Please share your experience. Thank you so much.

[AyrshireK]

It sounds like you need further tests and a discussion with your doctor.

They need to identify why you have this change in your liver - only by identifying what has caused your liver to become coarse can you either get it treated or make lifestyle changes that might help.

You definitely need to ask about staging of this condition (i.e. do you need a fibroscan to stage the fibrosis?), do you need a liver biopsy to see what has gone on at a cellular level?

My hubby was diagnosed with cirrhosis out of the blue, he was a fit and healthy bloke, never smoked, never drank, no tattoos, no unhealthy lifestyle issues. His condition was found to be auto immune hepatitis - his own immune system had attacked his liver.

I hope you get some answers from your doctor very soon.

Katie

[Concernedalways in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you for your reply.How's your husband doing? Did he have any symptoms before the diagnosis?

[AyrshireK in reply to Concernedalways]

Unfortunately his AIH never gave any symptoms and it wasn't until he was diagnosed with decompensated cirrhosis when we checked the BLT site we could tick off a great many of the early symptoms of cirrhosis. His doctor had previously told him some of his symptoms were related to stress and anxiety because he was caring for his Dad who had alzheimers/dementia.

BLT page about cirrhosis at:- britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

I am not saying you've reached this stage yet but coarse echo texture perhaps presents some degree of fibrosis.

Katie

[Concernedalways in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks for your reply. I hope your husband will be ok. 🙏

[AyrshireK in reply to Concernedalways]

He's stable just now.

Push for answers from your doctors.

Katie

[Concernedalways in reply to AyrshireK]

Glad he's doing well, Katie. Yes, I'll contact the doctor tomorrow.

[AyrshireK in reply to Concernedalways]

Are you under a hospital consultant? If not then you need to be referred to (at minimum) a gastroenterologist but better still a hepatologist (liver consultant).

Katie

[Concernedalways in reply to AyrshireK]

Due to covid, couldn't contact. I hope I'll get more clarification about it. I'll contact the doctor tomorrow. Thanks for replying 🙂

[Allystar in reply to Concernedalways]

Good luck i hope your husband is OK? Its very hard when you having abused your body, yet this happens,

[Jaygee87]

I had the same as yourself on my last ultrasound scan. I was told slight irregular contour which I think is similar to yourself. I got told it was borderline cirrhosis and then my next scan next month will give more indication of whether its turned to full cirrhosis or not.

Please press for more answers as its very difficult getting information out of consultants sometimes.

[Concernedalways in reply to Jaygee87]

Did you have any symptoms? Were you asked to do a LFT?

[AyrshireK in reply to Concernedalways]

Liver Function Tests are routine, however, you can get spells when even with full on cirrhosis you can have normal/near normal LFT's.

When the liver is actively under attack you can get elevations of the liver inflammation markers but once the liver reaches as stage where it is isn't under attack and yet is coping with damage then liver markers can be fairly normal.

If the liver starts to struggle then you'll see elevations or even drops in some of the other enzymes and chemicals which the liver takes to do with regulating such as bilirubin, creatine, serum sodium, albumin etc. At this stage the liver gets labelled as decompensated and bloods 'deranged'.

My hubbies liver was initially decompensated with deranged bloods but as it stabilized/compensated bloods were near normal across the board. His AIH is deemed 'burned out', it may have been a drug induced liver injury (due to prescription tablets) in the past that caused his auto immune response but in his case the AIH is no longer active but it's left it's damage behind.

This is all why you need to see a specialist and why you will need further tests to see if they can ascertain WHY you have coarse liver texture.

Push for that referral.

Katie

[Concernedalways in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks for replying, Katie Totally freaked out now

What prescription tablets did your husband take before the AIH?

[AyrshireK in reply to Concernedalways]

He was prescribed repeated courses of an antibiotic for acne but it was ages before his diagnosis and has never formally been attributed to his cirrhosis but it's more than likely that was his trigger.

Do you think you've been on something that might have cause a drug induced liver injury? The one that crops up most often on the AIH page is Nitrofurantoin given continuously for uti's (it is a well known trigger for AIH).

Katie

[Concernedalways in reply to AyrshireK]

No, had covid 19 last month, don't know if it's because of covid. Very worried

[AyrshireK in reply to Concernedalways]

It says mimimal coarse echo texture so hopefully that's at the least severe end of things as I said earlier on it's why you need further tests to ascertain at what stage your liver is at. It could be that this is mild fibrosis with no ongoing inflammation in which case it may not get worse. If they can identify the cause then anything up to full blown cirrhosis is deemed potentially reversible.

Don't stress till you have the full picture and even then stressing doesn't help. You just have to get on with living life.

Katie

[Concernedalways in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks Katie You're right. I'm going to the doc as soon as possible to figure everything out.

Along with minimal coarse echotexture he left a question mark in front of it.

I just hope it's reversible.

[AyrshireK in reply to Concernedalways]

The covid link may need examining. There is evidence that Covid-19 and/or it's treatment are leading to some degree of liver damage in some patients. Hepatic involvement in COVID-19 could be related to the direct cytopathic effect of the virus, an uncontrolled immune reaction, sepsis or drug-induced liver injury.

These are all investigations that need done.

Best wishes, Katie

[Concernedalways in reply to AyrshireK]

I'll let you know when I get the other results. 🙂

[Jaygee87 in reply to Concernedalways]

No symptoms. I had to do LFTs and also fib 4 bloods and ELF test. My ALT was high when it was done in December but not had one since then.

[Concernedalways in reply to Jaygee87]

Did the doctor say it's reversible?

[Jaygee87 in reply to Concernedalways]

As far as ive read once its gone to cirrhosis its non reversible. Ive read if its got irregular contour then its cirrhosis regardless of the bloods. I'm only 33 so it's quite scary really but ive accepted the worst. We will see what my next scan brings. My consultant isn't the best, so if its cirrhosis I'll be asking to transfer to someone else.

Have you been told if you will have another scan or bloods soon?

[Concernedalways in reply to Jaygee87]

No. I went for a lower abdomen ultrasound, the "coarse echotexture " was found by chance. I've decided to talk to the doctor regarding this and I'm not sure if it's a post covid complication. I just hope it's reversible. Hey,the liver is a wonderful organ, it can repair itself. Your case must be temporary. Eat healthy and exercise.

If you don't mind ,do let me know about your test results.

[AyrshireK in reply to Jaygee87]

Not necessarily true, on the BLT page about cirrhosis they now acknowledge that advances in treatments and increasing knowledge even some stages of cirrhosis are deemed reversible. Until recently, it was thought that a liver with cirrhosis could not be healed. This is usually the case because most diseases that cause scarring of your liver (fibrosis) are long-term and difficult to ‘cure’.Making lifestyle changes and cutting alcohol out of your diet may help delay progression.

Many causes of liver disease can now be treated much more successfully than before to stop or at least slow down any decline in the condition of your liver.

[Hidden]

Hi Your story is so similar to mine .

I’ve never smoked , drank exercise and very healthy weight .

I had pain in my chest and exhausted and stomach problems and the gp treated me for irritable bowel and anxiety for a long time but it never got better so they sent me to upper Gi and they did a gastroscopy urgently and it showed portal hypertension in my stomach and liver .

I’d never even heard of this and was so shocked .

3 days after that they did a ct with contrast and that showed liver damage and 6 days after that an mri with contrast which was last Sunday .

I rang yesterday but the secretary said they weren’t just ready to be viewed .

I’ve decided to enjoy this weekend and try and push the worry away .

Try and do that if you can and enjoy the weather .

I’ve just read what Katie has wrote and I’ve had those antibiotics and also a strong prescription of co codamol for bursitis and frozen shoulder because of a dancing injury . You think of allsorts when you don’t understand .

Take care

[Concernedalways in reply to Hidden]

How did they describe the liver damage? And did you do some sort of tests? Is it reversible?

[Hidden in reply to Concernedalways]

They didn’t . They said that a mri scan was a deeper scan to see what’s going on

[Hidden in reply to Concernedalways]

Sorry I’ve had a look at what I wrote down and my ct scan said liver disease .Also my bloods have now shown liver in the normal range .

I just don’t understand

[Concernedalways in reply to Hidden]

You should talk to the doctor, some damages are reversible if I'm right. So they'll be able to guide or explain to you on what lifestyle changes you should make.

[Hidden in reply to Concernedalways]

I’m waiting for my mri results to come back . I keep a healthy diet and exercise , never drank or smoked so I don’t know what else I can do with that .

They haven’t said what liver disease I have yet .

Thankyou

[Concernedalways in reply to Hidden]

I hope you'll be able to sort it out, whatever it is. I have the same issue as you, never drank, smoked, not obese, I'm a vegetarian, what else other than that...jeez!Keep in touch! Thanks for replying 🙂

[Hidden in reply to Concernedalways]

I’ll let you know what they say about the mri . Did you have symptoms ?

[Concernedalways in reply to Hidden]

Actually I went for a pelvic ultrasound. Not for liver. Just found about this coarse echotexture by chance.

[Hidden in reply to Concernedalways]

Hope you get some answers too . I’m wondering if they will scan you too .

[Concernedalways in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. Yeah maybe I'll have to go for the mri too.

[Fuggs]

Have you checked out heavy metals? Mercury can be devastating at cellular and especially mitochondria level. It turned out I had very high levels of Mercury, aluminium (antiperspirents etc) Berilium, lead, arsenic. Took me ages to get rid of them and my Drs never had a clue.

[Concernedalways in reply to Fuggs]

Gosh what test is it? I just did the lft and cbc

[idyllic420 in reply to Fuggs]

Is it ok to eat farm raised Salmon?

[Fuggs in reply to idyllic420]

In my opinion, having studied the results of cage fish farming, I would give it to my dogs....Nor would I eat high food chain fish, predator fish such as Tuna, Swordfish, shark etc, they tend to absorb a lot of heavy metals from the food chain below them. I would only ever eat fresh Atlantic salmon. Check out bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-...