SGPGI plans to buy advanced liver test machine

In his lecture,which was a part of the Surgical Gastroenterology Week celebrated by SGPGI,Sarin said the available liver function tests are “far from the gold standards” of diagnosis. But it is the advanced tests that make all the difference in treatment.

Liver,when injured due to various factors including fat deposition,tends to become stiff. Fibrosis is a condition in which due to continuous injury to the liver,the fibrous tissues replace the liver tissues and make the organ hard,sometimes leading to liver cirrhosis. “If the stiffness of the liver is above 14 kilo pascals,it means that the person has cirrhosis,” said Sarin.

According to him,there are not many tests available for direct diagnosis of fibrosis. In fact,the only method available till now is biopsy of liver.

Explaining the usage of Fibroscan or Elastography,Sarin said: “Biopsy is a painful and time consuming procedure,which cannot be done all the time for all patients. Fibroscan,on the other hand,is a non-invasive,painless and rapid method,much like an advance ultrasound test.”

The machine was originally built to test the stiffness of cheese,he said. And it is the best possible non-invasive method to diagnose ailments of a number of organs like liver and pancreas,at least for the next ten years.

The machine can diagnose cirrhosis much before it becomes clinically manifest.

“This is extremely helpful since once cirrhosis sets in,it cannot be reversed or even treated,” said Dr Rajan Saxena,Head of the department of Surgical Gastroenterology at SGPGI. “Not more than four to five centers across the country have FibroScan. Our machine at SGPGI will be the first in the state.”

The cost of the machine,said Saxena,is around Rs 80 lakh,and the state government has given its nod for its procurement.

“The machine should be established at the SGPGI in the next three months,” he said. “The tests do not cost more than Rs 1000,though we are still to decide on the charges,” he added.