FibroScan - how many probe flicks for an accurate reading?

[serhiy19k]

Hello, my lovely friends! I’ve been around here for over a year, but have not posted much - just observing other posts to find answers to my questions…

First of all, thank you all for contributing to this forum, your help is much appreciated.

My storey in short.

I am 43, been misusing alcohol for over 20 years. Drank 3 times the recommended limit, mainly beer on weekends. I have a full-time job and try to exercise 3-4 times a week.

Felt really unwell a year ago: fog in my head, pain in my right shoulder, feeling sick, heart burns (to the present day), sharp pain in the area where my kidneys are, and loss of energy and concentration.

I decided to check with my GP, which revealed a slightly raised ALT 48 (just 3 points above the normal range), low vitamin D, and very high cholesterol (HDL ratio 6.94). The test results signalled a red flag for me which is when stopped consuming alcohol. I feel much better nowadays (my head is almost clear, having more energy, and no pain around my liver and kidneys). I do have some other symptoms which worry me but this is probably age-related (or as I like to hope for) 😀

I’ve been worrying I have liver damage. I am sure most of you have been through these days of “unknown”.

I had repeated blood tests and an ultrasound scan. Out of 3 blood tests, one came back with raised ALT, again 48 - the other tests were normal. The ultrasound scan indicated nothing major except for fatty liver. I would be the happiest person on the planet If I get away with only a fatty liver after 20+ years of heavy drinking

Luckily, I found this forum, which gave me the opportunity to have a free Fibroscan during the recent Love Your Live Roadshow (ref: britishlivertrust.org.uk/in.... Again, thanks to all here and the people doing it!

Now, I want to get to the bottom of my post and ask if any of you know how reliable the Fibroscan is? In particular, how many times should the probe send waves through the liver? The reason for asking is that I only had two flicks, whereas the NHS website states that the test is performed at least 10 times to ensure an accurate reading

By the way, my score was 6.3. This was written by hand followed by the number 8 with the arrow pointing down as a prefix enclosed in brackets, as follows:

Fibroscan 6.3 (↓8). If anyone knows what the number 8 means, please let me know.

Would your recommendation be to ask the GP for a FibroScan to ensure the results? It's just knowing how much I drank in the past + some of my symptoms won't make me rest until I get to the bottom of it.

Again, thanks ALL for being around, it does make a difference!