Scanning technology from liver MRI software developer Perspectum Diagnostics could almost halve the number of liver biopsies carried out in people with fatty liver disease, the firm announced.
A new study found that 458 out of every 1,000 liver biopsies could be avoided if people are first assessed using Perspectum Diagnostics' LiverMultiScan software, which reads data from an MRI scan of the liver (Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 22 December 2017). This could save approximately 150,000 pounds (169,000 euros) per 1,000 patients.
LiverMultiScan images of patient with fatty liver disease before (above) and after (below) bariatric surgery. Based on these scans, it was decided liver biopsy was not needed in this patient. Copyright Perspectum Diagnostics.The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Birmingham and the University of Edinburgh, investigated the performance and cost of multiparametric MRI (LiverMultiScan) alongside existing biomarkers in the assessment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Adult patients undergoing standard-of-care liver biopsy for NAFLD were prospectively recruited at the two U.K. liver centers in Birmingham and Edinburgh, and they underwent multiparametric MRI, blood sampling, and transient elastography within two weeks of liver biopsy. The researchers compared noninvasive markers, with histology as the gold standard.
They found LiverMultiScan in 50 patients and six healthy volunteers was superior for grading disease severity and excluding people at increased risk of disease progression, compared with the other tests evaluated.
