title: FibroScan (vibration-controlled transient elastography): where does it stand in the United States practice.
abstract: With widespread screening and increasingly effective treatments for patients with viral hepatitis as well as the increasing prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the population presenting to the care of gastroenterologists and hepatologists is certain to increase. Assessment of advanced liver disease is traditionally invasive and expensive. Vibration-controlled transient elastography, commonly delivered by the FibroScan device, is an option recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the noninvasive assessment of liver disease at the point of care. Herein, we review the promise and pitfalls of vibration-controlled transient elastography with the aim of providing clinicians with a framework to interpret its results and apply this technology to the changing needs of our patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Elliot B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Tapper
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Beaujon Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, INSERM U773, University of Paris-VII, Clichy, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castera
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address: nafdhal@caregroup.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Nezam H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Afdhal
mesh_terms: D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000379:methods*; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005762:Gastroenterology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D014481:United States; D014732:Vibration
keywords: Cirrhosis; Fibrosis; Hepatitis; Liver Disease; Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease