What You Should Know About Fibro Scan
Fibro scan is well-known medical equipment that is developed with new technology in order to diagnose liver diseases. This technology equipment is now used for liver scan without doing any surgery which is an optional method for those who avoid pain. Fibro scan will detect symptoms or any disorders of the liver, e.g., liver fibrosis or fatty liver by ultrasound wave.
What is Fibro Scan
Some patients may wonder what fibro scan is and how this machine has to do with the liver scan. Fibroscan is now a new technology equipment in medical treatment that can diagnose liver diseases with shear wave without liver biopsy, which is a former procedure in examining the liver, and this way is more safer and painless.
Liver Diseases Symptoms
With the ability of fibro scan, this method will detect the liver dysfunction and here are the symptoms that might be the signal of liver disease:
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People who have been drinking for a long time or a large amount of alcohol might get their liver damaged directly because it will build up fat in the liver and cause diseases.
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Exhaustion and dyspepsia are also symptoms that show the signal of liver problems.
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Eyes and skin are turning yellow which is a signal of liver diseases e.g., jaundice.
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People whose family has a history of liver cancer are at risk of developing liver cancer
Why Fibro Scan Might be Necessary
People may wonder why would a doctor order a liver ultrasound. To clarify this, the fibro scan is very necessary when it comes to diagnosing symptoms that are signs of liver disease. The doctor will suggest doing a liver scan if there are symptoms in the following list:
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Alcoholic liver disease: This disease is caused by excessive consumption of alcohol. A large amount of alcohol will damage the liver severely because the liver cannot process and it will cause inflammation and later on will lead to permanent scarring. Moreover, it can lead to more serious liver diseases, such as alcoholic cirrhosis which it can be the cause of liver failure.
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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: This is a liver dysfunction condition which is caused by the accumulation of excessive amounts of fat in the liver. This is often found in people who are overweight or obese. The disease may not directly affect the liver, but if it accumulates for too long, it can lead to serious stages of liver diseases, such as fibrosis and cirrhosis.
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Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH): This is a drastic stage of symptoms caused by fat in the liver. The fat will build up until it causes inflammation in the liver.
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Viral infection: There are viral Hepatitis which are Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). These viruses can multiply rapidly and infect the liver cells and cause inflammation and then develop into serious liver symptoms. if not receiving treatment in time.
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Hemochromatosis: This is the condition caused by excessive accumulation of iron in the body. The iron will be build-up and invade organs, such as the heart, pancreas and liver. A large amount of iron will become toxic to your body and cause severe diseases and complications such as liver disease, organ damage or fetal damage.
Preparing Before Fibro Scan
To prepare for the fibro scan, these are the preparation procedure of FibroScan:
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Abstaining from drinking alcohol for two weeks.
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Fasting food and beverages for 3 hours before having a liver scan.
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Preparing or wearing comfortable clothes, so that the patient can easily expose their abdomen to be scanned.
FibroScan Procedure
Fibro scan is medical equipment that provides you with the most comfortable way to have a liver scan. Surgery is not needed and there is no pain for this procedure. The process will take only 10 minutes to get all these steps in the below lists done.
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The patients have to lie down and put their right arm above their head to open their abdomen on the right side.
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Gel will be applied to the patient on the skin before having the liver scan procedure.
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The doctor will use fibro scan equipment to scan the liver by placing it on your right side.
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The doctor will repeat the scanning to get the measurement at the same spot about 10 times to get accurate results.
Result of Fibro Scan
After going through a liver examination with Fibro scan, the Fibro scan will show 2 types of results.
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CAP Score: This result shows the fatty change in the liver. CAP score will result in the measurement in decibels per meter (db/m) which is associated with steatosis grade (S1, S2, S3). If you have a lower score below 5% of fatty change, it indicates that your liver is in a healthy condition.
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Fibrosis Score: This result shows the scarring of your liver. The fibrosis score will result in the measurement in kilopascals (kPa). The result with a lower score or between 2-6 kPa will be considered to be normal and have less scarring in the liver. Also, there are 4 stages of the severity of liver scarring which are F1-F4 sorted in ascending order.
Limitations of Fibro Scan
Even if fibro scan is one of the safest and quickest methods of the liver scan, it has limitations in using this medical technology equipment.
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Fibro scan can be used with the liver only, not with other organs.
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People with edema should not be examined with this method.
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Fibro scan also cannot be used on pregnant women because it will affect the development of the fetus.
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Patients with body devices, such as pacemakers should not be treated with fibro scan because it will damage the body device.
Is a Fibro Scan Painful?
Fibro scan is the painless way to get a liver scan. This process does not have any liver biopsy or surgery. The patient will only feel a slight vibration while in the procedure.
How Long Does Fibro Scan Take?
Normally, fibro scan only takes around 10 minutes to indicate the state of damaged liver or its condition.
Fibro Scan Conclusion
Fibro scan is an efficient and convenient medical technology method for a liver scan. This technology will provide safety and precise measurement of detecting liver diseases without surgery, so this will be a painless way to examine your liver. With minimal process and results, the patients will know their liver condition and can prevent themselves from severe diseases.
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