cat scan or biopsy

is a cat scan  good enough to detect liver damage?  a biopsy is not an option for me.  please let me know what you think.

[NYCMark]

What kind of liver damage are you hoping not to find? Do you have Hepatitis C and are looking to see if you have some degree of fibrosis or even cirrhosis? If so, ct scans are not good for that. They CAN give the general size and nodularity of a liver's external and internal appearance, which sometimes can signal a cirrhotic liver. But as for fibrosis, one needs a biopsy (or some would say a fibroscan if available). It's the same with MRI: good for tumors and such, not good for estimating fibrosis.

Mark

[FlGuy]

Curious, why is biopsy not an option?  Health care coverage matter?

[crazycanuck]

sorry i have'nt posted for a while. dx cronic (chronic) hep c july2006.  probably have had it for over 30 years. was treating for r.a for 10 years but now they claim i don't have ra. original test was not very sensitive so they think i might have very low virus levels and are not interested in additional tests. i have a lot of sx so i would like to get additional tests. i think i could talk my gp into doing a ct scan but no biopsy. would it be beneficial?

[somuchmore]

Another benefit of CT or MRI would be to show Portal Hypertension which results from the liver damage. My opinion is once you know you have Hep C the bx is just to determine level of scarring for base line to bench mark future changes against. Blood test can tell how your liver functions. MRI or CT can show you lesions which could be cancer. The cancer is better caught sooner than later. I known too many people who avoided doing anything until they had advance cancer and/or Portal Hypertension with varices that led to really bad stuff.

[copyman]

a fibrosure blood test or a fibroSCAN can be done in lieu of a biopsy. the fibroscan is not in many areas but should be next year when FDA approves it. both tests are NON-invasive, the fibrosure is a simple blood test and the fibrosure is like an ultrasound. either test can give you some indication of liver damage.