Anyone ever not get a reading on fibroscan

[J5527]

Just went for 1st fibroscan and my hepatologist could not get a reading she said it's due to my anatomy . She had the probe in different locations.

[MINTVCX]

It can happen but I think it is not so common. Sorry to ask was the obesity the reason? I mean did hepatologist have issue to locate your liver? Or something else?

My first fibroscan was also not so reliable but let's say it was valid but not so accurate - IRQ/median = 32%. But I think it was not your case.

[J5527 in reply to MINTVCX]

I weigh about 186 , she said she had probe on all the parts that should get a reading that it could be my rib cage being narrow or something not allowing a reading. I don't know how hard the probe should be pressed on my body I did feel the pulse

[MINTVCX in reply to J5527]

I see. Anyway you have to follow your hepatologist next diagnosis steps. Invalid fibroscan result is not something you should worry about. Good luck.

[J5527 in reply to MINTVCX]

She Said that she thinks I'm good to continue with diet and exercise. And see her in 3-6 months for labs and ultrasound or try fibroscan again. She said she doesn't think I have fibrosis based of the labs and elf scores. I want to be happy I guess I just worked myself up for worrying. All I can do is keep up with my diet and exercise and hope for best

[nash2 Partner]

It would be pretty uncommon in someone your size, but the signal has to have room between your ribs and there is a limit to how far the probe can be from the liver itself. The most common failure is if the fat layer there is too thick but it is the combination so it didn't say anything about your liver. It sounds like your doc has a good approach and you probably just need to be serious about lifestyle and exercise.

[J5527 in reply to nash2]

I'm pretty bummed out about this although she is confident there is no scarring. My shearwave elastography said f3 but my hepatologist said she didn't agree with that because they over estimate and have room for error. She is basically going off my fibrosure blood test which I had done twice and elf score. I don't want there to be something wrong but I pretty much freaked myself out when I got the f3 results so I had that in my head and yesterday when I couldn't get a reading on fibroscan and hepatologist said I'm confident there is no scarring just continue working out and continue eating healthy I felt uneasy even though I should be happy. I guess I just wanted a visual confirmation that I'm ok . I've been doing very well with diet and exercise and will keep it up. Hopefully when I see her again in 3 months the fat on my liver will have improved. I get so scared because I read others stories about later finding fibrosis after blood work was ok.

[nash2 Partner]

The feeling of unease is something we all deal with I think. Even with tests we know that none of them are ideal so it has a way of nagging at your mind. For whatever it may be worth, a good diet and exercise is effective in giving your liver a chance to resolve whatever level of damage may be there and as long as you are functioning well there is every reason to expect it to improve over time but it is a lifestyle not something you can hop in and out of. If you treat your liver well there is every likelihood that it won't be the thing that makes you unwell at some point in the future so a bit less worry is appropriate.