Fibroscan: Is it any good?

[mike716]

Hello again, fellow Medhelpers! Greetings from Buenos Aires, where we avidly await the beginning of spring. The winter down here in the Southern Hemisphere has been too long, and some people here think there won't be any summer at all this year. Global warming, melting ice caps, and all that sorta stuff. Argentines are hysterical. But it sure is unseasonably cold.

I hope I am still remembered by y'all with affection in spite of my past weird and occasionally wicked postings. I certainly haven't forgotten any of you dear people. You have been my port in the storm.

To give a quickie update, I am still without Tx, waiting for my hep MD to make up his mind what to do with me. I think these Argentine medics are kinda scared to do anything, afraid of scandal (can you see the headline: "American Tango Dancer Succumbs to Third-World Hepatitis Treatment"?).

The latest, and the real reason for this post (aside from my penchant for aggravating everyone with my dubious attempts at humor), is that they just got a Fibroscan machine at my hospital, trained a young female medic to run it, and I have been one of its first victims...er, I mean subjects.

The results are crazy and scary. It gave F2/F3. Now, just a year ago a biopsy and a FibroTC (tomography analyzed, see my images page), as well as many blood analyses and ecodopplers and whatnot, gave me as being F0/F1. How the heck can someone with almost normal hepatic enzymes (transaminases), otherwise totally normal blood tests, and scores of F0/F1 a year ago, suddenly be F2/F3? Is this possible? Is it credible? Or is their new Fibroscan machine a piece of junk, despite the cute operator?

Anybody out there with an opinion on this, my latest predicament?

All replies will be appreciated, and the one that is most helpful wins a free trip to Buenos Aires (by kayak and Moped) and three free tango lessons from yours truly (if I'm still above-ground).

Hugs.

Mike

[mike716]

Thanks for your take on this, Bill. Sure, we have to take everything with a grain of salt. Still, there must be some cause for my sudden huge jump from F1 to F3/F4, and the drugs I'm taking are probably the first place to look. I have two candidates: the meds I'm on (including Valium), and the radiation from the tomographies I did for the FibroTC test. Nothing else I'm doing now is different from what I was doing always.

Mike

[mike716]

Thanks for the URL, Rocker.

[Rockerforlife]

Why can't you do another trial with a PI if you've already done one?

When you do PI`s,and you dont respond,its known the virus mutates and becomes resistant to that PI.But ive heard you can still do the Polymease Inhibitor.and you can still do SOC.

[Rockerforlife]

You have been taking valium daily you mentioned,how long have you been doing this,you may be able to relate this to how and why your BX`s differ so much.Maybe

[Rockerforlife]

Organic changes such as leukopaenia and liver-damage of the cholostatic type with or without jaundice (icterus) have been observed in a few cases.

[Rockerforlife]

Continual daily doses of diazepam will quickly build up to a high concentration in the body (mainly in adipose tissue), which will be far in excess of the actual dose for any given day.

Diazepam is metabolised in the liver via the cytochrome P450 enzyme system. It has a biphasic half-life of 1-2 and 2-5 days, and has several pharmacologically active metabolites. The main active metabolite of diazepam is desmethyldiazepam (also known as nordazepam or nordiazepam). Diazepam's other active metabolites include temazepam and oxazepam. These metabolites are conjugated with glucuronide, and are excreted primarily in the urine. Because of these active metabolites, the serum values of diazepam alone are not useful in predicting the effects of the drug.




http://www.medic8.com/medicines/Valium.html