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HR Fibroscan - Got good images
For anyone with a little extra meat on their bones (I have a spare tire) a successful scan is possible. When the probe was placed on my ribs (where they insert the biopsy needle) and I took a deep breath and held it, he was able to get about 8-10 great images after erroring out on the first few. I am pretty lean in the rib area but not in the front. As I recall, I don't think he got anything from the front.
My scores ranged from 19 to 27 with an average of 21, so not what I had hoped to hear. Have to say that a kind of weird detachment came over me. Remember that scene in Sex and the City when Miranda had her ultrasound and the tech told her she was gonna have a boy? Like that.
Probably due to being in the presence of HR. Never walked out of my doc's office feeling that in control. Awesome human being. Would have been overwhelmed by his vast knowledge if it hadn't been for his absolutely fantastic ability to communicate with me. I felt completely comfortable asking questions and he took as much time as I needed to grasp what he had to say. Wish he had time to write a book!
My scores ranged from 19 to 27 with an average of 21, so not what I had hoped to hear. Have to say that a kind of weird detachment came over me. Remember that scene in Sex and the City when Miranda had her ultrasound and the tech told her she was gonna have a boy? Like that.
Probably due to being in the presence of HR. Never walked out of my doc's office feeling that in control. Awesome human being. Would have been overwhelmed by his vast knowledge if it hadn't been for his absolutely fantastic ability to communicate with me. I felt completely comfortable asking questions and he took as much time as I needed to grasp what he had to say. Wish he had time to write a book!
hi foofighter,
sorry to hear that you got those suboptimal fibroscan numbers. the inaccuracy of medical findings (as it seems, either your biopsy OR scans+labs) surprises, and worries, me time and again. But fortunately you have know a better insight of the state of your liver, and can act accordingly.
in that matter, i wanted to ask you: what was it that HR told you that made you feel in control? did he give any hints what to do next, or how to proceed?
all the best to you in meantime, and hopefully your labs will soon go back to the range you want them to be.
sorry to hear that you got those suboptimal fibroscan numbers. the inaccuracy of medical findings (as it seems, either your biopsy OR scans+labs) surprises, and worries, me time and again. But fortunately you have know a better insight of the state of your liver, and can act accordingly.
in that matter, i wanted to ask you: what was it that HR told you that made you feel in control? did he give any hints what to do next, or how to proceed?
all the best to you in meantime, and hopefully your labs will soon go back to the range you want them to be.
Yes, I've recommended Fibroscan to many people, and in fact have had two myself.
That said, Fibroscan is simply one important dot on a chart of many dots, and I believe HR himself has acknowledged that as well. Other dots might be imaging studies, size of spleen, blood markers, blood marker predictive tests (a bit controversial), clinical exam including palpitation, and needle biopsy (a very big dot).
Now, if sample size was below the acceptable limit, that's another issue to factor in. Was it so noted on the biopsy report? What did your liver specialist say about that?
Certainly not saying to discount the Scan, and as you suggest, your decline in platelets does suggest more damage than stage 2. But personally, if it were me, and if indeed the biopsy was not reliable for reasons noted -- I'd seriously consider getting another needle biopsy to add one more dot to the chart and to therefore get a more exact idea as to exactly where you stand - esp if you think liver damage may be in the signficant range.
All the best,
-- Jim
That said, Fibroscan is simply one important dot on a chart of many dots, and I believe HR himself has acknowledged that as well. Other dots might be imaging studies, size of spleen, blood markers, blood marker predictive tests (a bit controversial), clinical exam including palpitation, and needle biopsy (a very big dot).
Now, if sample size was below the acceptable limit, that's another issue to factor in. Was it so noted on the biopsy report? What did your liver specialist say about that?
Certainly not saying to discount the Scan, and as you suggest, your decline in platelets does suggest more damage than stage 2. But personally, if it were me, and if indeed the biopsy was not reliable for reasons noted -- I'd seriously consider getting another needle biopsy to add one more dot to the chart and to therefore get a more exact idea as to exactly where you stand - esp if you think liver damage may be in the signficant range.
All the best,
-- Jim
Hey Jim,
You may not remember my situation but if you take a peek at this thread you will see that you are the one that got the ball rolling with HR for me:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/326325
Now that HR has seen the my records, we see that imaging and labs jive with the Fibroscan completely. He felt that the fragmented biopsy samples were too small to use to accurately stage my level of fibrosis. Platelets have dropped below 100 as of Jan labs, so I have to let go of the hope that I am a 2.
You may not remember my situation but if you take a peek at this thread you will see that you are the one that got the ball rolling with HR for me:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/326325
Now that HR has seen the my records, we see that imaging and labs jive with the Fibroscan completely. He felt that the fragmented biopsy samples were too small to use to accurately stage my level of fibrosis. Platelets have dropped below 100 as of Jan labs, so I have to let go of the hope that I am a 2.
How recent was your needle biopsy and how well did your scan results correlate with the needle biopsy? My understanding is that it's not just picture quality at issue when you have more fat, but that the scales used to determine correlations with liver stage are mostly developed from European trials where people tend to be much thinner. For this reason, if a significant gap exists between recent liver biopsy and Fibroscan -- if you haven't already, I'd discuss the above issue both with your HR and your liver specialist. Scans have certain advantages over needle biopsy, but my understanding is that it's an indirect measurement using wave rebounds of some sort. With liver biopsy, for better or worse, they're actually looking at your liver.
-- Jim
-- Jim
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