Fibroscan vs. Biopsy

[burned74]

I just had both Fibroscan and Needle Biopsy. FS 6.6 which is low damage. My biopsy results were Stage 1 to Stage 2. Biopsy had to be a lot more expensive and carries a more risk.I wish Fibroscan was available to everyone w/o a needle biopsy. BTW I have had hep C since 1974

[willbb]

I wish Fibroscan was available to everyone w/o a needle biopsy.
----------------------------------------------------

There is no doubt that the FS marker for ascertaining liver damage(fibrosis) is not at all harmful as it is not an invasive procedure (like needle biopsy) ,however the incidence of severe complications from biopsy are very rare and it would seem evident like any medical procedure the benefits most often outweigh the risks..

The fibroscan ,like biopsy has its certain limitations and degrees of error

Your score of 6.6 Kpa would correlate to St.0 -1 as it pertains to the metavir scale as you can see below..
Keep in mind FS is prone to some degree of error (especially in earlier stage )interpretation

Best to you ......

Will

(2.3-6.6) F0 -F1
(7.3 -8.9) F2
(10.5- 11.6) F3
>12  F4(cirrhosis)


http://hepatitis.about.com/od/diagnosis/a/Metavir.htm

What Does My METAVIR Score Mean?
The fibrosis is graded on a 5-point scale from 0 to 4. The activity, which is the amount of inflammation (specifically, the intensity of necro-inflammatory lesions), is graded on a 4-point scale from A0 to A3.
Fibrosis score:
F0 = no fibrosis
F1 = portal fibrosis without septa
F2 = portal fibrosis with few septa
F3 = numerous septa without cirrhosis
F4 = cirrhosis

I

[Frank J. Perrotta]

Sorry to hear about your continuing pain issues and hope it heals!

I also had a surgical procedure where I was put under and when I came out of it I was in such agonizing pain I just starting screaming, lol. It was really kind of shocking, really. I am known to be pretty pain tolerant and the nurses and doc was pretty surprised at what I seemed to be suffering from.

They kept pumping me full of pain killer and I waited for it to take effect but it didnt seem to work - they must have brought out something really strong and that finally worked!

I am still and will forever be on pain meds. It seems they hit some nerves that continue to try to heal but dont, or something and my chest is in constant pain with a pulling and tugging feeling... and it seems this will now be a life time of meds to control it all.

Sorry to be OT.

[BoceprevirGal]

  True, statistically, there is a small percent that die, but what I meant was I dont know any first-hand cases of death, form the people I know, although I know a habdful of people who have died o Hep C complications.
   Living in The Bay Area my whole life, the people
I know who passed on, were people who caught it while doing drugs. Being in Recovery myself, I know many people in Recovery, and also who still use drugs.

[jerialice]

i just had one and no problem-
i think i woke up and asked to see the tissue- ewww.

but no pain, no pain meds, just versed, which takes you to strawberry fields.

the bad part was i reacted to the band aid. i
had a little tenderness for a few days- back to normal now.

hope that is the last one tho- it is stressful when you sign the "you might die" form.

[Idyllic]

I'm not so sure the pain was entirely in your mind. I came to during a surgical procedure once. I even overheard a comment made about me. But what I remember actually bringing me around was a sharp pain in the area where the surgery was being performed. I was told there was no way I could have felt anything but I swear to this day I have a deep visceral pain in that very same area every now and then. It is nothing major and I have no problem so it is not worth pursuing. Only I am not so willing to chalk the whole experience up to my vivid, wild imagination.

[Frank J. Perrotta]

I can imagine something going wrong as I had a somewhat negative (second) biopsy.

I wanted to see if we could learn anything about all the side effects I was having after being "cured" of a virus???

It all seemed to go OK but then I kinda "heard" and "felt" the third snip and kinda realized what was actually happening - cutting out a part of me and pulling it out, etc.

I started feeling a severe pain and it just got worse and worse. I was brought back up to my room with the hope that it would subside but it didnt! I became ice cold and I guess my bp was dropping!

They gave my some meds for the bp and called my doc and brought me back to the biopsy room to scan me to see if anything was left inside or if I was bleeding internally and found nothing.

I was brought back up to my room and was given some high dose of pain killer and all seemed OK no matter what was wrong, lol... It seemed to be psychosomatic!

I was brought back down for another scan an hour later without any complications and eventually allowed to go home but it was some kinda trip and what the mind can create!

[Susan_1a_CC]

There have been deaths from liver biopsy according to my primary doc.  I just saw him last week and we were discussing the results of my FibroSure when he mentioned his knowing of at least one recent death.  Sure, not a high risk procedure - unless you happen to be the unfortunate one.  Personally, I've had 2 biopsies and hope to never have another although if I had your results I would have followed up with a bx.  

[BoceprevirGal]

  I just felt more comfortable, yanking out a piece of tissue, and then analyzing it, rather then bouncing sound waves off my liver. There is a huge difference, to me.
  Biopsys are indeed invasive, so I didn't have one done, until my blood work/labs indicated that my liver was in trouble.
  I havent heard of any cases of people dying from
a liver biopsy. I have had many friends who have died of Hep C complications, unfortunately~
   I had a FibroSure Test done, which indicated that
I was well into the cirrhosis category. This test is a blood test, not to be confused with a Fibroscan test.
   I then ran to get a biopsy, to prove that FibroSure test wrong:  my biopsy had me at Stage 2, so I went and got Treated~

[Idyllic]

It seems like there is an increase in treatment naive folks whose doctors seem to think neither assessment is necessary since the patient has opted to treat the virus right away. I don't know. I must be too old school or something since I can't imagine not knowing how advanced my fibrosis is.

If we are wishing for things then I wish available treatment for Hepatitis C were uncomplicated, highly effective, simple to administer, limited in duration and well tolerated. :)