FibroScan® Measures The Health and Function of the Liver

At GI Alliance of Illinois, our team is happy to provide you with treatment with the most advanced methods in medicine. Using the latest in medical technology helps our teams offer advanced services, more swift visits, and superior results compared to more traditional methods.

By offering FibroScan (liver elastography) to our Illinois patients, our specialists will be able to test their liver function as well as identity and supervise a few different liver conditions. For more details about how FibroScan may allow you to manage your liver vitality, get in touch with your area GI Alliance of Illinois to arrange an appointment at your convenience.

What should I know about FibroScan?

As a nonsurgical liver assessment, FibroScan involves ultrasound imaging to deliver a full image of your liver wellness, assess the development of liver conditions, and work to uncover liver issues. With this quick procedure, your gastrointestinal doctor will request that you position yourself flat and place your right hand beneath your head. Your provider will utilize a transducer, similar to the ones used in ultrasound scans, on the abdominal area. As we carry out this procedure, we are able to:

• Monitor the progression of liver concerns
• Measure the stiffness of the liver to indicate scarring in the liver
• Track liver wellness following a liver transplant
• Detect diseases that impact your liver
• Identify scar tissue in the liver

In many circumstances, FibroScan can be utilized instead of undergoing a more invasive liver biopsy. Many people lean toward this technique because there isn't a requirement to take more time away from everyday life or seek out a person to drive them home after the appointment. Plus, it is virtually painless. While this exam might not always dismiss the need for a biopsy test, it permits your provider to acquire prompt results with better accuracy.

How is FibroScan performed?

Throughout your FibroScan test at GI Alliance of Illinois, the special device will utilize acoustic pulses through your liver. The probe will examine roughly three cubic centimeters in the liver – nearly 100 times the size of a biopsy. Whenever the acoustic waves are emitted, it would require more time to progress through a normally functioning liver. However, the sound waves will absorb through a stiff liver somewhat quickly, and possibly faster the stiffer the liver is.

The FibroScan exam can also detect the volume of fat in the liver by tracking the ultrasound attenuation rate. As soon as the acoustic frequencies are released, they are received into diseased livers more than healthier livers. The diseased liver has an increased attenuation rate, but the healthier liver will have a smaller attenuation rate.

All of this information will be documented with our specialized technology and lets your gastroenterologist discuss your outcomes with you at the same time as your procedure. You will be able to talk to your specialist about your concerns during your exam, or you may wait and ask them once the outcomes are provided in further detail.

When would you have a FibroScan test?

If you have symptoms or signs of liver problems, including abdominal discomfort, dark-colored urine, yellowing of the eyes or skin, or another liver-related problem, your Illinois GI physician might suggest a FibroScan to assess your liver wellness.

Depending on your condition, health record, and other factors, our team may use FibroScan to monitor or help our diagnosis of:

• Iron overload
• Hepatitis B or C
• Alcoholic liver conditions
• NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis)
• NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease)

Find out more about FibroScan technology

When you or a loved one has symptoms and signs of liver disease, has had liver disease in the past, or has a family history of liver conditions, your GI doctor might suggest a FibroScan test. This fast and efficient exam can work to track liver disease and measure the comprehensive wellness of the liver, providing a more accurate way to treat and assess liver issues.

To hear more about FibroScan and how it can allow you to sustain your liver and comprehensive wellness, reach out to GI Alliance of Illinois now to schedule a consultation.