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Posted on Aug 31, 2008, 8 p.m.
By Jeanelle Topping
Scientists have developed a non-invasive test that accurately identifies advanced liver disease without the need for a biopsy, it has been claimed.
Scientists have developed a non-invasive test that accurately identifies advanced liver disease without the need for a biopsy, it has been claimed.
In news that may be of interest to anti-aging physicians, a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology - the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute - noted that the process measures liver stiffness with transient elastography.
Traditionally, biopsy carries the risk of discomfort and further complications, Eurekalert reports.
Henry Chan and colleagues from the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong examined 133 patients with chronic liver diseases to test for severe fibrosis.
"Using different liver stiffness measurement cutoff values, liver cirrhosis can be diagnosed or excluded with high certainty, which may alleviate the need for biopsy in these later stages," Mr Chan concluded.
In related news, researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been able to delay the process of decline in a mouse liver.
