Understanding the liver with FibroScan®

This information will help you understand your FibroScan results. Your doctor will discuss the results with you and give you more information during your appointment.

About liver elastography and FibroScan

Liver elastography is a non-invasive test that your healthcare provider can use to find out details about your liver health. Noninvasive means that nothing is put inside your body.

FibroScan is a type of liver elastography, a special technology that measures liver stiffness (hardness) and fatty changes in the liver.

These measurements help your doctor learn more about your liver disease.

Here are some useful terms you need to know about FibroScan results:

• Fibrosis: scarring in the liver.
• Liver stiffness: liver hardness related to liver scarring.
• Fat change: an abnormal accumulation of fat in the liver.
• Steatosis: A condition caused by having too much fat in the liver.
• The CAP score: how the measured percentage of fat in the liver changes.

Your doctor will use your CAP score to find out your degree of steatosis.The CAP score is measured in decibels per meter (dB/m); it will range from 100 dB/m to 400 dB/m. Your CAP score and steatosis can go up or down over time.

The following table shows the ranges of CAP scores and the corresponding steatosis; it shows how much of the liver is affected by fat accumulation. Normally, the liver can have up to 5% fatty changes. A score below 238 dB/m means that the amount of fat in the liver is no more than normal.

The result of liver stiffness is measured in kilopascals (kPa). Normal results are usually between 2 and 7 kPa. Your result may be higher than normal if you have liver disease. The highest possible result is 75 kPa.

Your doctor will use your liver stiffness result and medical history to find out your fibrosis score. Your results may range from normal to advanced.

• Normal: this means that the liver has no or mild scarring.
• Moderate and severe: liver scarring can be reversed (canceled) by treating your liver disease. Good, healthy nutrition and lifestyle changes can also slow or reverse the buildup of scarring in the liver. You may not have any symptoms of moderate liver scarring.
• Advanced: Cirrhosis is a form of advanced scarring of the liver. This happens over time in chronic (long-term) liver disease.

You can use the following table to check the health of your liver. This is based on your diagnosis, liver stiffness and fibrosis scores. Not all diseases are listed in the table. If you don't see the disease on the list, ask your doctor to review your results.

Certain conditions can cause the liver stiffness result to be too high, making it incorrect. You may have less scarring than the results suggest.

This can happen if you have:

• Liver inflammation: This can be caused by a liver recently affected by disease. It can also be caused by long-term heavy drinking.
• Benign (not cancer) or cancerous (cancer) tumors in the liver.
• Liver congestion: this means the liver is too full of blood or other fluids. This is usually caused by heart failure.

FibroScan may give less accurate results or no results at all if you have:

• Obesity: This means that your body mass index (BMI) is greater than 30 (large, unhealthy amount of body fat).
• Ascites: fluid builds up in the abdomen.
• Biliary obstruction: a blockage that doesn't let enough bile out of the liver.
• Scar tissue: tissue from surgery or radiation that has accumulated near the liver.

Latest medical review:

17.11.2024, Dr. Oana Timofte – Medic Primar Endocrinologie