Hey Brigid,

My hepatologist has it in his offices so I just paid my copay for an office visit. It's at Mt. Sinai.

As far as the accuracy - I'd have to say I hope not since my score was really high but they say it's accurate at the high end. Honestly, I had four different tests to determine liver damage and they were all different.

Someone recently posted somewhere that the only accurate test is an autopsy. Don't know what else to tell you.

If you need any particulars about my doc let me know.

Hi Brigid,

Look I am one of the lucky ones,my first fibroscan matched my biopsy,and my second fibroscan went down and my specialists say that if you are not over weight, they are very accurate in stage one and four,stage 2 and 3 can be out up to a point, which is still not bad...

Thats what I know and have been told but some people here are saying that theres is not as accurate.

Had 2 fibroscans done from two doctors and in two hospitals and they match,so I suppose I am very happy with that.

I knew I had to get it done before I started heptech,because this would be my reference point and now I can monitor every so often to get an indicatication ,if it keeps going down,then I am convinced.

Good luck.

Thats my take on it

it's possible that you may be confusing fibroSCAN (the radiology) and fibroSURE (the blood test). a very easy confusion to make since their darned names are so similar!!

the fibroSURE blood test is very accurate at stages 1 and 4, questionable for stages 2 and 3. it is a 100-point test.
scores lower than 30 are accurate.
scores of 70 - 100 are accurate.
scores between 30 and 70 are "murky."

it's possible that the same is true of the fibroSCAN, but if so, then i have never heard this about fibroscan before

the actual biopsy is the 'gold standard' it is what the drug co who have trials insist on

but what if they only take specimen from unaffected portion of the liver ? - the remaining well may have changes which could go undetected

you are right simone they could take a piece that is bad but the other side could be OK,thats why various tests can give a better picture..
I had an ARFI done and my specialist said it is much more accurate then a fibroscan because it gets results in various area's...
For me my fibroscan matched my ARFI.

you correctly point out that the presumed 'gold standard' of biopsy leaves much to be desired - it typically captures only 1/50,000 of the liver, and very rarely is liver damage evenly distributed throughout the organ. i recently and infamously commented in another post that the only 100% accurate test is an AUTOPSY! and since none of us is in a hurry for a postmortem, we meanwhile must manage with what's available. knowledge IS power, and yet it seems that many of us get precious little knowledge from our doctors or the medical community! ...and so we rely on each other...and on doing our own research. most imaging (such as fibroscan) is to some extent reliant on the skills of the operator...blood tests are normally among the most reliable of tests..etc, etc.
bottom line, it seems to me that multiple tests are the best approach....preferably using the same labs, the same imaging providers, etc - and then look for patterns, trends and consistency. such a process will take months or longer...but i really do believe that it's the best shot we have at knowing exactly the health of our liver -

in life it is normal to be concerned with the 'what ifs' but to procede forward, better to think of the 'more than likely'

Thanks for answering, guys. I'm not confusing the tests -- WEb MD said it's inaccurate in the middle, same as fibrosure. So it seems like the answer is, who knows.

Brigid thanks for clarifying. It makes sense - it's just that I wasn't previously aware of the fact: that this FibroSURE caveat or limitation also applies to the FibroSCAN.

@pugdaddy-

That 'autopsy' line was brilliant (and true). I would have given you credit had I remembered it was you. Sorry, my mind's like a sieve thses days.

Cheers

I believe that liver fibrosis assessment is at best an art more than science. Fibrotests and Fibroscan can come back with different readings and of course liver Bx only samples a small portion of the liver.
My results
Fibrotest Stage 3 to 4
Fibroscan score 20! advanced cirrhosis (that's one well done steak!)
Bx - early cirrhosi
So ....what am I to believe? (My Dr.s feelings too)

what about other indications - dark urine, light stools, bloating, heart burn, extreme fatigue, many others. these symptoms must be addressed as well.