Measure the hardness of the liver

If the first stage is diagnosed when the liver is mildly fibrosis, the chances of recovery will be high. This is also the reason why the Medical Diagnostic Center (MEDIC) spent US $ 112,000 to buy Fibroscan. This machine allows early diagnosis without injury to the patient

Diagnosis of liver disease by Fibroscan. (Photo: medscape) Dr. Phan Thanh Hai, director of the Center for Medical Diagnosis said: 'The need to diagnose without injury on the body is always the desire of consumers'.

Liver 5 degrees 'hard'

The diagnosis is no different from ultrasound, the doctor will use the right side of the sclera within a few minutes. As a result, the doctor will give the patient a unit number called Kpa (kiloPascal). This unit refers to the hardness of the liver corresponding to the number of fibrosis cells, from 1 to 75 divided into 5 stages: normal F0, mild fibrosis, F2 medium fibrosis, F3 multiple fibrosis, F4 fibrosis heavy. However, this technique still has some limitations that it is impossible to 'see' the liver of overweight or obese people or those with a lot of water.

Find the disease

Pham Thi Bach Tuyet, 51-year-old employee of a printing house in Ho Chi Minh City, after a periodical health check, asked for a blood test to vaccinate her. The blood test results reported hepatitis B. She said that the diagnosis of liver during moderate fibrosis, if the treatment is positive, will recover.

Not as lucky as Ms Tuyet, 62-year-old TB H, resided in District 3, suffered from ascites. He said: 'Doctors recommend taking CT scans but because of the cost of millions of dollars, I decided to take a liver measurement first'. Results: 22.1 Kpa - severe cirrhosis and a tumor appeared on the screen. According to Dr. Le Dinh Vinh Phuc - Center for Medical Diagnosis: 'Tumors on the basis of cirrhosis should not think of a benign tumor but must continue with CT examination to get timely treatment'.

Cirrhosis is mostly due to alcohol consumption but we were surprised when Mr. H. said he had not been drinking alcohol for 31 years. If we do not use alcohol and still get sick, we ask for more reasons to not drink. He confessed, in the past, at meals, he drank half a liter on average, but from 8pm, he went to have fun with his friends and did not drink small bottles but drink big bottles. One day, drinking a small one also fainted, the person felt uncomfortable and could not drink anymore to stop!

The South

* According to the Hepatobiliary Association, 15% of the population has chronic hepatitis B, 6% have chronic hepatitis C.There is an increasing risk of liver disease from alcohol, drugs, food, mold, etc. Every year, hospitals face cirrhosis and advanced liver cancer.

* This technique does not replace normal color ultrasound because color ultrasound is capable of qualifying the nature of the liver.But this technique replaces biopsy to assess cirrhosis.

* In the world, the device is used in the European community with a covered examination paying 300 euros.This technique is used extensively for people at risk and has been drinking heavily.There are 3 states in the United States that use this device and are in the process of waiting for FDA to approve mass use here.In Asia, there are 3 countries equipped with this machine: Korea, Singapore, China.MEDIC equipped from April 2006.