Liver stiffness is a physical parameter that reflects the health of the liver. Stiffness is not only sensitive to fibrosis; it is also affected by various factors such as congestion and inflammation. High stiffness is abnormal.

FibroScan measures scarring by measuring the stiffness of your liver. The fibrosis result is measured in kilopascals (kPa) It’s normally between 2 and 6 kPa. The highest possible result is 75 kPa.

Successfully treating the cause of early to moderate liver fibrosis may reverse most, if not all, of the damage that the fibrosis has caused. Nearly every chronic liver condition eventually results in fibrosis, as each condition causes lasting inflammation in the liver.

Liver stiffness measurement using transient elastography has been investigated widely in the noninvasive evaluation of liver fibrosis in a variety of chronic liver diseases. In 100 patients with RA, with a cumulative methotrexate dose ranging from 1,530 mg to 13,000 mg over a mean period of 7 years, a significant association was detected between liver stiffness and methotrexate cumulative dose.

Measurement of liver stiffness is useful to assess clinical outcome because of their correlation to liver disease severity. A retrospective study provided “proof of concept” that liver stiffness was prognostic in cirrhosis. Liver stiffness correlated with portal pressure based on the HVPG that accurately predicted clinical events.