About fibroscan

[Chennakeshava]

Can any one please let me know the price of the basic version of fibroscan

[coeric]

Thank you.
Eric

[Aaron57]

"The key to non-invasive Fibrosis staging is not so much  the fact that it is non-invasive but that it is therefore easily repeatable and allows for closer monitoring."

Exactly B !

[Bali05]

I did a total of 60wks tx and I will do another FS 6 mo. post when
I will hopefully SVR.Going to post those results when I have them
right now it is still premature to come to a firm conclusion.


b

[coeric]

Very interesting. Can you tell us what your starting fibroscan number was
and what the number is after 48 weeks of treatment?
Thank you
Eric

[Bali05]

The key to non-invasive Fibrosis staging is not so much  the fact that it is non-invasive but that it is therefore easily repeatable and allows for closer monitoring.
For example I have been monitoring my tx via FibroScan because I was
lucky to have a local hospital that has one and I was lucky to get
friendly with the Dr. who does them. So far the result is that my liver
stiffness increased after 48wks of tx. The reason I was given is that
INF causes inflammation and that this can effect the stiffness reading
We shall see at my next 6mo. post tx FS.
It also makes it harder to believe that you liver is actually getting a break
while UND on tx.
Ever since I have been diagnosed  i feel like I am conducting my own
one person mini trial......

Cheers
b

[Aaron57]

From what I could see .. it's made in the US , but only used to date in East Europe and Asia/India .. several folks in other forums have asked what their FS reports meant .. like this one , but they had been scanned by the AFRI ... FS as we know is in Kps ...

This off a different forum ..

"the scan is saying"
Vs (m/s)
Liver segment 5
Mean 1,89
Std 0,35

Here is an example of their grading system ...

1.13 m/sec (mean, 1.16 m/sec ± 0.17; range, 0.95–1.4 m/sec) for patients with stage F0,

1.17 m/sec (mean, 1.18 m/sec ± 0.18; range, 0.84–1.70 m/sec) for patients with stage F1,

1.22 m/sec (mean, 1.34 m/sec ± 0.34; range, 0.86–2.50 m/sec) for patients with stage F2,

1.64 m/sec (mean, 1.75 m/sec ± 0.51; range, 1.15–2.63 m/sec) for patients with stage F3,

2.26 m/sec (mean, 2.38 m/sec ± 0.74; range, 1.15–3.83 m/sec) for patients with stage F4.


I had stumbled across the AFRI and MRE in my wanderings and recognized the format ..
For me I like to see that there is new and advanced technology still being R&D focused to non invasive testing !

[Bali05]

Have not ever seen or heard of anybody using AFRI in the USA.
I think if it is marketed for liver fibrosis someone on this forum would know about it by now. I will ask my ultrasound technician next time since it is integrated in sonography. I have already set up my next FibroScan for 6mo post tx and I always go to same place to get consistancy in comparing results.

[Aaron57]

Read the data on the MRE at Mayo before starting Tx .... neat technological advancement  !  .. the AFRI also has some very interesting possibilities ... and apparently it is already being marketed and used in the public ...

[Bali05]

Not familiar with it.
The only other non invasive Fibrosis measuring technology I know of is
MRE. Magnetic Resonance Elastography unfortunately only @ Mayo Clinic as far as I know.
So far that would be my favorite. It is like a combination MRI + FibroScan.
They put a pad similar to a mouse pad  on your upper body covering your entire liver.
As a result you get like a weather map of an image of the whole liver showing various
degrees of fibrosis in different areas.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/magnetic-resonance-elastography/

[Aaron57]

B,

Are you familiar with this new 4d device ? It's being used already in India , from what I've read from some posters questions on interpreting results ...  it uses a different system than TE ..

Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse - (ARFI) device produced by Siemens

http://radiology.rsna.com/content/252/2/595.full

Results: ARFI imaging (ρ = 0.71), TE (ρ = 0.73), and serum fibrosis marker test (ρ = 0.66) results correlated significantly with histologic fibrosis stage (P < .001). Median ARFI velocities ranged from 0.84 to 3.83 m/sec. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the accuracy of ARFI imaging, TE, and serum fibrosis marker testing were 0.82, 0.84, and 0.82, respectively, for the diagnosis of moderate fibrosis (histologic fibrosis stage, ≥2) and 0.91, 0.91, and 0.82, respectively, for the diagnosis of cirrhosis.

Conclusion: ARFI imaging is a promising US-based method for assessing liver fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis, with diagnostic accuracy comparable to that of TE in this preliminary study.

Also doing feasibility studies for other issues like thyroid , prostate .. very interesting new tech. !

[Bali05]

Can`t hurt to know what`s going on in other countries. Maybe there are similarities ?

[Aaron57]

Looks like he's in India  B ?

[Bali05]

FibroScan in the US is not FDA approved  .
Because of this insurance cos won`t pay for it and so there is no CPT code
the Dr. can bill to. What happens is you make a routine appointment that is
billed as such and the Dr. with the FS in his office will give you the Scan as
part of the visit.The cost will be what the doctors consultation fee is. They can not give you a written medical report on the results. You will get a verbal result.
It is still considered a research tool here

I did one in Germany on the other hand and got a very detailed written report with all 10 readings
including a copy of the scan image , success rate ect...

b

[Aaron57]

It's different price depending where you live .. Singapore - US$400 , Indonesia - US$ 200 , in the US there are only 5 FS machines if my data is correct price unknown .. also no idea how much the exam is in India  .. You might ask your doctor or a Liver clinic there ..