New equipment at the Mercy will help doctors identify severity of liver problems 

TECHNOLOGY to assess the severity of liver disease, which was funded by the Mercy University Hospital Foundation, is now operational at Mercy University Hospital Cork.

The FibroScan gives a computer-generated image and a readout that tells exactly what the damage to the liver is, including quantifying the amount of fat in the liver, as well as identifying if the liver has scar tissue or if there is serious liver disease such as cirrhosis.

Traditionally, patients needed to have a liver biopsy to assess and tell if there was significant permanent damage in the liver, but the new FibroScan works like an ultrasound and is quick, non-invasive, and painless.

Obesity-related liver disease is now becoming the main cause of serious liver disease in Ireland; and it is estimated that over 20% of Irish adults are obese.

Gastroenterology specialist at Mercy University Hospital Professor Martin Buckley said: “Patients with obesity frequently develop fatty deposits in the liver; this can lead to severe liver disease, cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer.

“A traditional ultrasound scan could tell if there was fat in the liver, but was unable to assess the severity of the disease caused by the excess fat in the liver.

“FibroScan allows us to quantify the amount of fat in the liver and accurately tell if the fat is causing significant liver disease.”

It is now possible for professionals at the Mercy to readily determine which patients with liver disease are at risk of complications and need to undergo regular surveillance for complications, and which need to be referred to transplant assessment.

It also allows medical teams to reassure other patients that their liver disease is not progressing, and that they can be discharged from hospital clinics to the care of their primary-care physician.

This will, in turn, free up clinic space for other patients who need appointments, an important measure when waiting lists in hospitals across Ireland are increasingly long.

Prof Buckley explained: “By using the FibroScan, we can work out if the liver disease is serious or has long term implications; or if the patient is able to avoid invasive unnecessary investigations. Only some patients with liver disease require long-term monitoring and surveillance in a hospital clinic and the FibroScan is able to identify these patients.”