Rapid liver disease diagnosis at Central Middlesex

Consultant gastroenterologist Dr Sharon O’Brian, consultant physician and gastroenterologists Dr David Sherman and Dr Amar Sharif, consultant radiologists Dr Eugenia Mainta and Dr Phillip Shorvon and CMT Doctor Verity Bushell.

Central Middlesex Hospital, part of London North West Healthcare NHS Trust, is providing rapid liver disease diagnosis by using innovative technology to deliver full liver assessments in one day.  The hospital has reduced the number of liver biopsies by utilising Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) technology on an Acuson S2000 ultrasound system from Siemens Healthcare.

Patients can have a full liver assessment in a single hospital visit, whereas previous pathways could take up to three visits.  The technology is mainly used in viral hepatitis which has been recently endorsed by NICE guidelines.  Its use has also been extended to a wider range of liver damage and patient groups as well as the identification of portal hypertension.

“Liver disease is one of the biggest killers amongst working age adults.  Therefore the need for a faster, safer and more effective diagnosis is more important than ever,” explained consultant radiologist Dr Phillip Shorvon.  “As one of the first sites in the UK to identify the use of ARFI in evaluating and observing the increased liver stiffness in patients with acute liver disease, we are advocating its use to avoid the necessity of liver biopsy in some cases.”

See the full report on page 2 of the November 2015 issue of RAD Magazine.