World Hepatitis Day 2014: Can the fibroscan predict liver disease?

With the number of Hepatitis B and C patients increasing in India, a hospital here launched a technique called fibroscan for the non-invasive assessment of liver stiffness which leads to cancer in such patients. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital after conducting studies on 175 patients developed the technique that will help in diagnosis of the liver status and start the treatment before fatal complications set in.
According to the ministry of health and family welfare, about 15 million Indians are suffering from Hepatitis B and C and five million of them may be viraemic. 'Fibroscan is a safe, quick and cost-effective technique for diagnosing various stages of the liver disease,' said Anil Arora, chairperson, department of gastroenterology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

'As specific symptoms of liver cirrhosis like jaundice, swelling of the feet or blood vomiting are peculiarly absent till the very late stage of liver cirrhosis, this technique will help in the assessment of liver stiffness in Hepatitis patients.' 'Fibroscan will be of immense use in many patients with Hepatitis B or C or fatty liver disease,' he said. Arora said fibroscan can also be repeatedly conducted to assess the various stages of liver diseases before and after the treatment. 'Fibroscan can obviate the need of liver biopsy in more than 90 percent of the patients as it can make the same diagnosis at one-third of the cost, and without any complications,' Arora said.

What are liver diseases?

Liver diseases comprise a vast range of conditions that affect the normal functioning of the liver. The liver is a small organ located below the rib cage on the right hand side of the stomach. It plays an important role in digestion of food, absorption of nutrients and elimination of toxic substances from the body. Liver diseases can be either inherited through generations or they can even occur due to some infectious agents like viruses or due to chemicals. There are over 100 different types of liver diseases and several lifestyle related things that can lead to liver disease. Most common diseases include alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and haemochromatosis. Some liver problems are temporary and go away on their own, while other liver problems can last for a long time and lead to serious complications. Liver disease was traditionally known to occur in association with excessive alcohol intake but now the non-alcoholic variant is reaching epidemic proportions in the developed countries. Known to occur in association with metabolic syndrome consisting of hypertension, diabetes, obesity and hyperlipidemia this disease occurs because of faulty fat metabolism in the liver. Prevention is the best treatment and if uncontrolled can even end up in liver failure.

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