I have been told that I have NAFL afer... - British Liver Trust
I have been told that I have NAFL afer having lfts2or3 times a Fibroscan has shown a reading of 16.9 , could anybody explain what that means
Hi gordy. Has your doctor told you what the cause of your NAFL is,- its not always caused by being overweight or diet.
Is it the NAFL diagnosis, or understanding what liver function blood test results are, or what a Fibroscan or 16.9 is that has got you puzzled? Or all 3, lol!
Hi I take a lot of medication and have done for about 7 years ( heart and blood pressure , arthritis ) 17 per day. A bit confused about it all especially the 16.9 fibroscan.
Gordon
A fibroscan has become a popular and non-invasive alternative to a liver biopsy to measure the 'health' of someone's liver. Its done by the machine sending a sort of 'pulse' through the skin into the liver. The speed of the 'pulse' or 'wave' is measured by an ultrasound machine. From this the technician can work out the stiffness of the liver, which in turn reflects the degree of fibrosis. - the stiffer the liver is the greater the degree of fibrosis.
So this is all it does, measure stiffness. It doesn't diagnose inflammation, or enlargement, or scarring or anything else. Just how stiff your liver is when a healthy liver should be soft and shiny.
Depending on the cause of the liver stiffness (alcohol, viral hepatitis, fatty liver or whatever) the scores vary slightly, but on average a score of around 10,11 or 12 would indicate borderline fibrosis/cirrhosis. A score of 16.9 would suggest you have cirrhosis.
In order to improve the health of your liver you need to find the cause of the damage, and then reduce or remove it. Have the medics said its your longterm use of medication that has caused the damage, and if yes, have they discussed with you ways you can control your BP and other problems with less medication?
Thanks for answering my question , I have now got an appointment with the liver consultant on monday next . I do hope that we can find the medications that are causing the problem.i will report the findings on the site next week.
Thankyou very much .
Mr G Scott
bolly, the cut off points for scarring is different depending on the cause, i found a usefull chart:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...
Thanks Ralph, really useful
Hi. I am a 63 year old female. I was originally diagnosed with fatty liver, then with NASH. I have been a diabetic for about 10+ years - now on insulin and oral hypoglycaemics, but no other health problems except raised cholesterol treated by statins. I had a fibroscan last December with a result of 27. My consultant hepatologist said that as they already knew from a previous biopsy that I had some fibrosis, he is confident that the fibroscan result means that I have progressed to cirrhosis. The cause seems to be unknown - I am a little overweight - not obese (and trying hard to lose weight), I exercise regularly, eat sensibly and have never been a drinker - no alcohol at all for 14+ years, and before that only very occasional social drinking. I do not think there is a known cause in my case - except that there must be a genetic element in it, as my sister has the same diagnosis (she is waiting for a fibroscan at present). Our other sister is not affected, and as far as we know neither were our parents (they lived to be 82 and 89). I am waiting for an upper endoscopy to rule out / treat any oesophageal varices.The only advice my hepatologist can give me is to carry on trying to lose weight and keep exercising. Apparently I would nto be a good candidate for a transplant if it became necessary becasue of the diabetes and its associated health risks.
