Virginia Mason today becomes the first in the Pacific Northwest to use non-invasive FibroScan technology to evaluate disease stage in patients diagnosed with liver ailments.
Approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration earlier this year, the technology transforms how liver disease is diagnosed. It is highly effective in determining the presence or absence of cirrhosis without a liver biopsy. The patient is spared the discomfort and risk of the invasive biopsy procedure. FibroScan also allows a larger volume of the liver to be evaluated compared to small samples that can be obtained during a typical biopsy.
"This truly changes how we manage patients with liver disease and will replace the need for liver biopsies in many patients," said Kris Kowdley, MD, hepatologist and director of the Liver Center of Excellence at Virginia Mason.
Based on a technology called vibration-controlled transient elastography, the FibroScan device assesses liver shear wave speed (expressed in meters per second) and equivalent stiffness (expressed in kilopascal units) in a rapid and totally painless way. The physician simply places a hand-held scanner on the skin in the area over the liver. Scans can be conducted quickly and multiple times. Also, scan results are immediately available for evaluation by the physician.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended "baby boomers" (individuals born from 1945 through 1965) be tested for Hepatitis C, an infectious disease that primarily affects the liver. "Our use of FibroScan is particularly timely as we're on the brink of an enormous increase in the number of patients diagnosed with Hepatitis C," Dr. Kowdley said.
Initially introduced in Europe in 2003 by the French company, Echosens, FibroScan is used in Japan, China, Canada and approximately 70 other countries. In April 2013, the Food and Drug Administration approved its use in the U.S.
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