Liver MRI

[foxglove]

What does liver MRI scan show?

[AyrshireK]

It is just a much more detailed scan of the liver and ancilliary plumbing, gall bladder etc.

In 10 years my hubby has had to have two which were a follow up to his routine 6 monthly scans which had picked up some additional lumps and bumps which needed more thorough exam as they couldn't determine quite what they were just on ultrasound.

In the end the lumps and bumps had all been seen previously - they were just extra thick bits of liver cirrhotic tissue, cysts and some haemangioma.

His 2nd MRI last year thankfully also picked up the fact he had some gall stones lodged in his bile duct which could have seriously de-stabilized his liver had they moved and actually caused a blockage and/or infection. Having the scan meant these were identified and thereafter treated quickly.

Katie

[foxglove in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks for detailed reply!

[foxglove in reply to AyrshireK]

Were your husbands gallstones treated by an operation or is there any other ways to treat? Thanks

[AyrshireK in reply to foxglove]

Hubby had to have an ERCP - basically a longer endoscopy. During that they widened the mouth of his bile duct so that the stones could be removed and hopefully to prevent any further ones becoming lodged in the future. He was fortunate that his doctor fought for him to have the procedure under a General Anaesthetic as he struggles with the normal endoscopy. They can't remove his gall bladder due to him having such severe cirrhosis.

Katie

[foxglove in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks....think I would need the general anaesthetic too!!!

[pushthrough]

As mentioned by Katie it gives specialists a good view of the liver kidneys and other areas. I had an MRE which was used to determine the stiffness of my liver and give them a view of everything. Now I get to have a regular mri every 6 months. 😂

[foxglove in reply to pushthrough]

Thanks, what is involved in the scan? e.g. do you have to fast, does the whole body go into the scanner?

[AyrshireK in reply to foxglove]

Yes, you'll have to fast before hand.

The last liver MRI hubby had was actually in two parts, he had the 1st scan then there was gap of 45 minutes before they did a 2nd. Probably due to them doing one without contrast and one with.

Although you do go into the tube you can see out, they give you ear plugs to try and dull out the noise or headphones with the radio or your choice of music (having recently had one for my knee it is noisy).

You also get a wee panic button in case it gets too much for you. Best idea is just to go with it, shut your eyes and just get on with it. Iam sure a tough cookie like you will soldier on and get it done.

You should get a wee leaflet before your appointment with all the guidance.

All the best, Katie

[foxglove in reply to AyrshireK]

Thanks I'm a great soldiering on type but I think this procedure might defeat me. I'm not really a tough cookie but dont tell anyone !!

[AyrshireK in reply to foxglove]

All you have to do is lie down, close your eyes and follow the instructions as they tell you to. Yes it's noisy and the tube is a teeny bit claustrophic if that's your problem BUT really it's just a scan and you'll do ok. You can see out of it (picture is of an MRI scanner in use).

You don't get to your age battling on without being a tough cookie.

All the best,

Katie

Picture of an MRI scanner in use

[foxglove in reply to AyrshireK]

Much thanks for your encouraging words, I'm a worier by nature but I'm usually ok when the time arrives for thing to be done. It's the waiting that bugs me! A gp that I saw for the first time (long way back) even called me a worry wart and I'm still the same It's good that you can see out and the panic button will help even if I don't use it. Just got to wait for appt letter now. Still it's time for dinner now so I'll focus on that I'm beginning to like thinking of myself as a tough cookie

[pushthrough in reply to foxglove]

Hello fox. Not many places have the mre. Basically a hard plate of some kind is wrapped around the liver area with a hose coming out of the top. You enter the mri and they scan the abdomen area while the plate is vibrating. This is done several times. They then remove the plate and put you back in just like a regular mri. The mre gives a stiffness scale of your liver but it’s an entirely different scale than a fibroscan. I believe mre I was 10.7 and fibroscan around 18. The mre is one of the newest methods of confirming for liver damage but for some reason I still had to do fibroscan. It’s odd because the fibro scan says s2 and the mre was none.