Echosens' FibroScan 630 Expert offers new spleen stiffness measurement (SSM by VCTE) for risk stratification of patients with advanced chronic liver disease
Image: Echosens launches FibroScan 630 Expert. (Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net/rajcreationzs.)
Echosens, a high-technology company offering the FibroScan family of products, announces the launch of FibroScan 630 Expert, a high-performance elastography engine that implements newly developed spleen stiffness measurement (SSM by VCTE) in FibroScan, a non-invasive biomarker that can be used to diagnose and monitor liver health and identified as a valuable diagnostic tool in assessing portal hypertension (PH). The Baveno VI guidelines recognize that elevated liver stiffness measurement by FibroScan can be an effective way to establish the risk of esophageal varices, a common manifestation of PH, increased blood pressure in the veins that enters the liver and is responsible for many of the manifestations of liver cirrhosis. The combination of SSM by VCTE in adjunction with Baveno VI criteria allows safely sparing endoscopy in more patients.
“Given the significant increase in potential cases of liver cirrhosis due to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and alcoholic liver disease, there is a critical need for the FibroScan 630 Expert as a cost effective, non-invasive modality for screening and management,” says Professor Massimo Pinzani, M.D., Ph.D., FRCP, Sheila Sherlock chair of hepatology, and director, University College London’s Institute for Liver and Digestive Health. “In cirrhotic patients, spleen stiffness correlates better with Hepatic Venous Pressure Gradient (HVPG) and presence of high risk esophageal varices than liver stiffness.”
The FibroScan 630 Expert offers improved ergonomics, embedded ultrasound guidance system, intuitive user interface, touchscreen, advanced keyboard and an integrated barcode reader.
In Western countries, alcoholic and viral cirrhosis are the leading causes of PH and esophageal varices, with 30% of patients with compensated cirrhosis and 60-70% of patients with decompensated cirrhosis having gastroesophageal varices at the time of diagnosis. The frequency of gastroesophageal varices directly correlates with the severity of the liver disease from 40% in class A (low risk) to 85% in class C (high risk) in cirrhotic patients.
Laurent Sandrin, chairman and co-founder of Echosens, says, “As liver disease has become an epidemic worldwide, FibroScan 630 Expert serves as an important, non-invasive and cost-effective tool for assessing its severity and prognosis. A dedicated SSM by VCTE exam based on a 100 Hz shear wave frequency has been developed to comply with the more elevated stiffness of spleen compared to liver. With liver stiffness measurement (LSM by VCTE), CAP and SSM by VCTE as surrogate markers of liver fibrosis, liver steatosis and portal hypertension respectively, the FibroScan 630 provides a comprehensive solution to manage patients with chronic liver diseases including advanced liver disease.”
Source: Company Press Release