Im lucky in having private healthcare and rapid response but not all are
If Im not mistaken Fibroscans cost about £200 and Im quite sure many would pay that for updates and peace of mind.
Some people may wish to pay that even if they have no symptoms or diagnosis and I certainly wish it had been part of my regular medical screening in the past
Question is where can you get a Fibroscan and how without a referral?
Hi my mam wanted a heart check and decided to go private so be quicker but she had to be referred by her doctor there should be a private hospital ours is called spire many you can just ring up and ask them how you go about it, best of luck hope your scan is ok 🤗
My daughter used to be a radiographer at a spire hospital in Norfolk 🙂
It can be a good idea but please be aware of this fact regarding fibroscan. If you do not have clear indications of liver problem (abnormal test, symptoms etc.), please confirm positive result.
"This is relevant as cutoffs generated in secondary care are often applied in primary care without taking into account the marked difference in prevalence. In this situation, a negative test would be very reassuring, although a positive test would have a low likelihood of capturing a true positive and raises the question of needing further confirmatory tests."
sciencedirect.com/science/a...
"High Prevalence of Liver Fibrosis Among European Adults With Unknown Liver Disease: A Population-Based Study"
sciencedirect.com/science/a...
"These findings show a high prevalence of silent liver disease with advanced fibrosis mainly related to NAFLD in adult European subjects without known liver disease. An LS value less than 9.2 kPa predicts the absence of significant liver fibrosis with high accuracy and could be used for screening purposes."
My remark
"significant liver fibrosis" is here F2-F4
Hello,
Just some comments, apologies if you have already thought of these.....
What do you do with the result when you have a scan without a referral? If it is 'negative' is that going to be sufficient to reassure you or will you then want to go on to having another test to check the first one?
Scans are generally done with clinical information, this can help the technicians understand what they should be looking for.
Results need to be interpreted by a medical professional in the context of each individuals medical history.
regards
Hi Trust, I think the problem people have is when GPs flatly refuse to help, as mine has done. People are continually advised to seek medical advice, but just as an example, when I asked my GP about the fibroscan results she said she didn't know about the numbers and refused to comment. Apart from paying privately for a fibroscan or going to see a hepatologist privately, there don't seem to be any other options for people if their GP will not take them seriously?
To answer your question Whyt, fibroscans are available from £95 from Tawazun Health in London.
Take charge and be your best health care advocate. Do what you have to do. Good luck.😊👍
I went along to the BLT mobile unit when they were offering free Fibroscans pre Christmas. I’m a student nurse (albeit in my 40’s) and had read about them so was interested having been quite a heavy drinker. My results (carried out by a hepatology specialist nurse was 12.4Kps. So I’ve been basically teetotal ever since. I’ve spoken to my GP who asked to see the letter given to me by BLT to hand on to the GP. I sent that in and now have an appointment booked for later in Jan to do blood tests as they won’t refer until they’ve done tests. If the BLT are running more mobile testing centres in 2022, then that’s a very good way of getting a scan done without a referral. I saw a follow up info that said 20% of people who attended needed to speak to their doctor about their raised Kps result. Hope you manage to find one.
You are exactly why I want to see these simple tests available to all by whatever means.Once the flag is raised you can modify behaviour and seek help.
Ideally no one would ever get to be above F2 without being aware and hence in a good position to make sure of a good prognosis with the right actions
Just as should be the case with other simple checks like blood pressure
Have you read about the British Liver Trust 'Sound the Alarm on Liver Disease Campaign'? They are pushing the government to take action to get better early diagnosis and early intervention on liver disease because of the massive numbers of patients who don't get identified as having a problem often until it is too late.
There is a petition and more information on the BLT main website:- britishlivertrust.org.uk/so...
Whyt you are 100% correct. If I were told I had scarring on my liver years ago and it can quickly progress to cirrhosis I would have quit drinking. I had no symptoms until the damage was done. I also had yearly bloods minus the year covid hit.
I had 2 liver CT scans in the year before problems were flagged. Albeit CT isn’t the tool for the job but I didn’t know that then and of course was lulled by it
Ok but fibroscan should not be done as screening test for everyone without obvious factors (symptoms, alcohol etc). Then they would be too much false positive. This is applied not only for fibroscan. So not a good idea. Do not get me wrong fibroscan is a great noninvasive tool but prevalence of liver disease should be considered to avoid costly diagnosis.
Can I ask you if you have some factors to suspect liver issue? If you do not mind.
Not sure if you mean me, but I do not have any symptoms of liver disease. I’d heard about them through studying for an assignment and was worried that 20+ years of quite intensive drinking may have caused some damage. The nurse was v clear that I need to have more tests and it was not a full diagnosis but that I needed to rein in my drinking straight away. I wouldn’t class myself as a problem drinker. But I’ve always loved a drink and I’ve also never been one of those people who can just have one glass. It’s v hard to stop especially when people really associate you with drinking. I also worked in the drinks industry for 20 years. Im aiming for the prevention better than cure approach - hoping my liver will regenerate and repair.
I see. In this case fibroscan indeed can be a good idea. Good luck.
I wouldn’t have known about the CTs either. The fibroscan was so fast they could easily see over 150 people a day with one tech.
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