FibroScan®: A Noninvasive Way to Detect and Monitor Liver Disease

Your liver has over 500 essential functions, including filtering toxins, processing nutrients, and regulating metabolism, so when your liver isn’t healthy, your entire body suffers. 

But unfortunately, liver disease can often go unnoticed until it becomes serious. For example, an estimated 100 million Americans have fatty liver disease and don’t realize it yet.

If you’re at risk for liver conditions like fatty liver disease, hepatitis, or fibrosis, early detection can help you mitigate these risks, and that’s where FibroScan® comes into the picture. 

FibroScan is a noninvasive test that evaluates the stiffness of your liver to help diagnose liver disease or to monitor changes as liver disease progresses. 

Read on as our board-certified gastroenterology team explains what FibroScan does and when you might consider it here at Bay Area Gastroenterology Associates, LLC.

What is FibroScan?

FibroScan is an advanced imaging test that measures the stiffness of your liver. It works like an ultrasound and uses sound waves to assess your liver health and detect signs of fatty liver disease, fibrosis (scarring), and cirrhosis. 

Unlike a traditional liver biopsy, which requires a needle and recovery time, FibroScan is completely noninvasive, takes just minutes, and provides immediate results.

Benefits of FibroScan

For years, a liver biopsy was the only way to assess liver damage, but it requires an invasive procedure, a long recovery time, and possible complications. FibroScan offers a safer, easier alternative with several benefits. 

This scan is a quick, painless, and noninvasive way to assess liver health and provides instant results without needles or discomfort. It's also more affordable than a biopsy and allows for monitoring liver changes and treatment progress.

What to expect during the scan

The test is simple, painless, and takes less than 10 minutes:

• You lie comfortably on an exam table
• Our technician applies gel to your skin (to help the sound waves travel better)
• We place a small probe on your skin near your ribcage
• The device sends painless sound waves into your liver to measure its stiffness and fat content

The bottom line? No needles. No sedation. No downtime. 

Understanding your score

A typical FibroScan result includes two key scores: the CAP score and the fibrosis score. The CAP score measures your liver fat content, with a score of 5% or lower indicating a healthy liver and higher scores indicating increasing levels of fatty change. 

The fibrosis score assesses how much scarring is detected. Scores of F0 to F1 indicate little to no scarring, while F4 suggests advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis.

Jigneshkumar B. Patel, MD, or Wendi Dinh-Bailey, APRN, review the results with you after the test.

What happens after your scan?

Our team recommends your next steps depending on your results. 

Diagnosing a liver condition

Your FibroScan results can help you catch the signs of liver disease as soon as possible so you can get treatments to avoid complications of untreated liver disease. We recommend the correct treatment if your scan diagnoses a new condition.

Monitoring liver disease

If you had a FibroScan to assess your current liver disease, our team may adjust treatments as needed. 

Who should consider FibroScan?

You may benefit from a FibroScan if you:

•  Have fatty liver disease (NAFLD or NASH)
•  Have hepatitis B or C
•  Have a history of heavy alcohol use
•  Are overweight or have diabetes
• Have been diagnosed with fibrosis or cirrhosis
• Experience unexplained liver enzyme elevations

Even if you don’t currently have any symptoms of liver disease, you might still benefit from a scan at Bay Area Gastroenterology Associates. Remember: FibroScan helps detect liver damage before symptoms appear, giving you time to make lifestyle changes or start treatment early.

Take charge of your liver health

If you’re concerned about your liver health or have risk factors for liver disease, talk to Dr. Patel about the benefits of a FibroScan. It’s a simple scan that can give you the answers you need without the stress of an invasive procedure. 

Call us at 727-372-4500 to schedule your FibroScan in our Trinity, Florida, office today. You can also book an appointment through our online scheduling tool.