Liver patients benefit from new equipment funded by KLHF
By Contributor
The Liver Clinic located in the Kootenay Lake Hospital has new equipment generously funded through the KLH Foundation, that has already made a big difference for hundreds of patients in the Kootenays.
“Having the fibroscan here benefits East/West Kootenay patients as we are able to provide point of care testing that allows us to make decisions in a timely manner and saves patients cost of travel and the burden of an invasive procedure,” says Dr. Phillip Malpass.
A fibroscan is a machine that is a non-invasive device that assesses the stiffness of the liver by measuring the velocity of a vibration wave (shear wave) generated on the skin.
The clinic received the machine in April 2017 and since then they have done more than 240 fibroscans. Before the fibroscan equipment, these patients either had to have an invasive liver biopsy or travel to Kelowna, Vancouver or Calgary to have the fibroscan done.
The liver clinic sees patients with all liver problems from the East and West Kootenays. It has two clinic days a week and sees five to six patients per clinic day. Patients include those with Hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis, fatty liver and all other liver disorders.
