Clark reviews findings from a 3-year longitudinal study comparing VCTE to liver biopsy for staging F2/F3 fibrosis in patients with AATD liver disease.Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) remains a challenging and often underrecognized cause of liver disease. While the condition is genetically well-defined, predicting which individuals will develop clinically significant hepatic fibrosis has remained elusive.
Historically, liver biopsy has been the standard approach for staging fibrosis and monitoring progression in AATD, but its invasiveness, cost, and patient burden have limited widespread longitudinal use. At the same time, noninvasive imaging techniques such as vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) have grown rapidly in hepatology as a tool to assess liver stiffness without biopsy, but long-term, head-to-head data comparing these modalities in AATD have been slim.
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) remains a challenging and often underrecognized cause of liver disease. While the condition is genetically well-defined, predicting which individuals will develop clinically significant hepatic fibrosis has remained elusive.
Read full HCP Live article: https://www.hcplive.com/view/vcte-s-potential-monitoring-aatd-liver-disease-with-virginia-clark-md
I tried to order the free kit to be tested for Alpha-1. I am 63 years old and diagnosed with COPD 2 years ago. I was also diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver 8 years ago and was tested for and diagnosed with hemochromatosis. I am unable to order the kit as the website isn’t working properly. My father died 10 years ago from fibrosis of the lungs and had COPD. My Uncle and his son on my mothers side both died from non-alcoholic cirrhosis at ages 72 and 42. What should I do to get this test? I feel definitively that this is all hereditary from both sides of my family.