Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsThe BasicsWhat It DiagnosesSigns You May Need OneWho Should Avoid It?ExpectationsInterpreting FindingsNext Steps
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
The Basics
What It Diagnoses
Signs You May Need One
Who Should Avoid It?
Expectations
Interpreting Findings
Next Steps
Liver Elastography vs. Liver Ultrasound
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Elastography Technology: The Basics
During ultrasound elastography, healthcare providers send sound waves through your liver. The vibrations of the waves move faster in areas of scarring. A computer analyzes how the waves move through your liver, and a healthcare provider uses this information to detect the amount of scarring you have, if any.This is similar to the way anelastogrammeasures the stiffness of soft tissue, including breast tissue.
During an ultrasound elastography, healthcare providers use an ultrasound machine to aim sound waves at your liver. This is sometimes done with a device called a FibroScan.
Sometimes, a healthcare provider will order an MRE scan. This is similar to a liver ultrasound, but uses an MRI machine. An MRI scan is more sensitive than a liver ultrasound, so it may be used to detect and diagnose more ailments. This is also quick, and takes about five minutes, though the setup can take about 45 minutes. It’s also painless, though some people feel claustrophobic in an MRI machine. Talk with your healthcare provider. if you’ve never had an MRI.
MRE vs. FibroScanMost liver elastography is done using an ultrasound, sometimes with a specialized tool called a FibroScan. It is adequate for most people, but an MRE scan is more accurate, and may be used if healthcare providers need a more thorough picture of your liver makeup.
MRE vs. FibroScan
Most liver elastography is done using an ultrasound, sometimes with a specialized tool called a FibroScan. It is adequate for most people, but an MRE scan is more accurate, and may be used if healthcare providers need a more thorough picture of your liver makeup.
What Does the Test Diagnose?
Liver elastography is used to identify scarring (fibrosis) and fat on your liver. Scarring is dangerous because it blocks blood flow to the liver. When scarring is severe, it’s calledliver cirrhosis. Fibrosis is a symptom of liver diseases, including those below, which can lead to cirrhosis:
Your healthcare provider may order liver elastography to diagnose one of these diseases, or to determine how severe your liver disease is. If you’ve started treatment, liver elastography is a way of checking the progress, monitoring your disease, making a prognosis, and seeing how well treatment is working.
Symptoms of Liver DiseaseLiver disease or scarring does not always show symptoms until it’s advanced. However, you may notice symptoms including:Feeling weak or tiredLimited appetiteNausea and vomitingPain in your upper right abdomenUnexplained weight loss
Symptoms of Liver Disease
Liver disease or scarring does not always show symptoms until it’s advanced. However, you may notice symptoms including:Feeling weak or tiredLimited appetiteNausea and vomitingPain in your upper right abdomenUnexplained weight loss
Liver disease or scarring does not always show symptoms until it’s advanced. However, you may notice symptoms including:
Signs You May Need a Liver Test
Liver elastography is usually ordered if you’ve had other liver tests that show you may have liver disease. Aliver panel testis a type of blood work that is often part of routine yearly blood work. If it shows abnormalities, or if you have symptoms of liver disease, your healthcare provider might suggest an elastography.
Your healthcare provider may also suggest elastography if you’re at increased risk for cirrhosis. The following conditions increase your risk:
Who Should Avoid This Procedure?
Both liver ultrasounds and MRIs are safe for most people. However, if you experience claustrophobia, talk with your healthcare provider before getting an MRI. You should also tell your healthcare provider if you are pregnant.If you have one of the following conditions, ask your healthcare provider about doing an MRE scan for your elastography:
What to Expect Before and During the Procedure
Liver elastography is a quick, painless procedure. You will be advised to abstain from eating or drinking for three hours before your appointment. Wear loose-fitting clothes that allow you to expose your belly.
Ultrasound Elastography
The appointment for an ultrasound elastography will take about 30 minutes, although the test only takes 10 minutes. You’ll lie on a table and the ultrasound technician will apply gel to your right abdomen, above your liver, and scan your abdomen using a wand called a transducer.
Once the tech locates the proper position, they’ll ask you to hold your breath for 10 to 15 seconds. During that time the transducer will send pulses into your liver. You may feel the vibrations, but it won’t be painful. The computer will use information from these pulses to create a picture of your liver, identifying any spots of scarring.
MRE Scan
An MRE scan may take up to 45 minutes, but the process is largely the same. You’ll lie on a table and expose your right abdomen. The MRI technician will put small devices onto your abdomen. These send and receive the radio signals used for the test.
The table will then slide into the MRI machine, and you’ll hear some loud noises as the machine creates pictures of your liver. The tech will ask you to hold your breath for 10–15 seconds while the radio pulses are delivered to the liver. These pulses will then be used to create an image of your liver.
After the Test and When to Expect Results
After the test you will be able to drive home, since anesthesia is not used. FibroScan results will likely take about a week.
A radiologist will look at the image created from your liver elastography and provide these two numbers:
Fibrosis scores are as follows:
A CAP score of under 5% is considered normal. Above 5% you will likely be diagnosed withfatty liver disease.
If you already have liver disease, your healthcare provider may also give you an activity score, which reflects how quickly your liver scarring is progressing. Activity scores are:
Next Steps to Treatments
Being diagnosed with liver scarring or fatty liver disease can be scary, but there is hope. Treatment, including diet and lifestyle changes, can stop the progression of scarring and fatty liver, and even reverse it. Based on your liver elastography results, talk with your healthcare provider about atreatment plan for liver disease.
Summary
Liver elastography is a painless test that measures scarring on your liver and liver fat. Having too much fat or too much scarring on your liver can be a sign of liver disease, so liver elastography is used to diagnose liver disease and monitor it if you’ve already been diagnosed. Most liver elastography is done via ultrasound, using a tool called a FibroScan. Other times, it’s conducted using an MRI machine to provide an MRE scan.
Liver elastography is quick and painless, and you should have your results in about a week. Once you have those results, talk with your healthcare provider about what they mean, and what treatments and lifestyle changes may be needed to improve your liver health.
6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.MedlinePlus.Elastography.Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.Understanding your liver elastography (fibroscan) results.Venkatesh SK, Yin M, Ehman RL.Magnetic resonance elastography of liver: Technique, analysis and clinical applications.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI. 2013;37(3):544. doi:10.1002/jmri.23731.Park CC, Nguyen P, Hernandez C, Bettencourt R, Ramirez K, Fortney L, Hooker J, Sy E, Savides MT, Alquiraish MH, Valasek MA, Rizo E, Richards L, Brenner D, Sirlin CB, Loomba R.Magnetic Resonance Elastography vs Transient Elastography in Detection of Fibrosis and Noninvasive Measurement of Steatosis in Patients With Biopsy-Proven Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Gastroenterology. 2017 Feb;152(3):598-607.e2. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.10.026University of Michigan Health.Liver elastography.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.MedlinePlus.Elastography.Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.Understanding your liver elastography (fibroscan) results.Venkatesh SK, Yin M, Ehman RL.Magnetic resonance elastography of liver: Technique, analysis and clinical applications.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI. 2013;37(3):544. doi:10.1002/jmri.23731.Park CC, Nguyen P, Hernandez C, Bettencourt R, Ramirez K, Fortney L, Hooker J, Sy E, Savides MT, Alquiraish MH, Valasek MA, Rizo E, Richards L, Brenner D, Sirlin CB, Loomba R.Magnetic Resonance Elastography vs Transient Elastography in Detection of Fibrosis and Noninvasive Measurement of Steatosis in Patients With Biopsy-Proven Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Gastroenterology. 2017 Feb;152(3):598-607.e2. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.10.026University of Michigan Health.Liver elastography.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
MedlinePlus.Elastography.Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.Understanding your liver elastography (fibroscan) results.Venkatesh SK, Yin M, Ehman RL.Magnetic resonance elastography of liver: Technique, analysis and clinical applications.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI. 2013;37(3):544. doi:10.1002/jmri.23731.Park CC, Nguyen P, Hernandez C, Bettencourt R, Ramirez K, Fortney L, Hooker J, Sy E, Savides MT, Alquiraish MH, Valasek MA, Rizo E, Richards L, Brenner D, Sirlin CB, Loomba R.Magnetic Resonance Elastography vs Transient Elastography in Detection of Fibrosis and Noninvasive Measurement of Steatosis in Patients With Biopsy-Proven Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Gastroenterology. 2017 Feb;152(3):598-607.e2. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.10.026University of Michigan Health.Liver elastography.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
MedlinePlus.Elastography.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.Understanding your liver elastography (fibroscan) results.
Venkatesh SK, Yin M, Ehman RL.Magnetic resonance elastography of liver: Technique, analysis and clinical applications.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI. 2013;37(3):544. doi:10.1002/jmri.23731.
Park CC, Nguyen P, Hernandez C, Bettencourt R, Ramirez K, Fortney L, Hooker J, Sy E, Savides MT, Alquiraish MH, Valasek MA, Rizo E, Richards L, Brenner D, Sirlin CB, Loomba R.Magnetic Resonance Elastography vs Transient Elastography in Detection of Fibrosis and Noninvasive Measurement of Steatosis in Patients With Biopsy-Proven Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Gastroenterology. 2017 Feb;152(3):598-607.e2. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2016.10.026
University of Michigan Health.Liver elastography.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
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