Bye-bye Biopsy, Hello MR Elastography!
Each year, almost 200,000 people are hospitalized in the United States because of chronic liver disease, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To diagnose and evaluate the liver for signs of fibrosis - stiffening of tissue, the doctor typically orders a liver biopsy. To perform a biopsy, the doctor uses a needle to take a tiny sample of liver tissue and then examines it under the microscope for scarring or other signs of disease.
According to the NIH website, "As an alternative to liver biopsy, NIH-funded investigators led by Richard Ehman at the Mayo Clinic have developed Magnetic Resonance (MR) elastography, a noninvasive MRI approach that can measure the amount of stiffness in a very small amount of tissue."
The new technique has several advantages over biopsy including less discomfort, a much lower risk of complications, and a decrease in expense.
Prior studies have shown that MR elastography "...might also be used to improve detection of breast cancer and help distinguish a benign mass, such as fibrocystic disease, from cancer."
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Source:
Advances in Medical Imaging (June, 2010). National Institutes of Health, Available online at http://www.nih.gov/science/imaging/biopsies.htm. Accessed on August 3, 2010.
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