According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates, the number of adults with diagnosed liver disease in the United States is approximately 4.5 million and the disease is a factor in the deaths of more than 40,000 people each year.
The liver is the second-largest organ in our body, second only to the skin. It is roughly the size of a football and is located on the right side of our body, beneath the rib cage. While the liver serves many essential functions, it primarily works to filter blood coming from the digestive tract before it travels through our bodies. It also creates proteins to help blood clotting, metabolizes drugs, and produces bile to remove toxins out of your body and aid in digestion.
The term “liver disease” refers to any of several conditions that can affect and damage your liver. Over time, liver disease can cause cirrhosis (scarring). As more scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue, the liver can no longer function properly. Left untreated, liver disease can lead to liver failure and liver cancer.
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Advanced endoscopist gastroenterologists are specially trained physicians who help to diagnose portal hypertension and perform liver biopsies with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). Patients with these concerns often require regular or multiple diagnostic outpatient procedures, including EUS. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) allows your doctor to examine your liver, pancreas, bile duct, esophageal and stomach linings as well as the walls of your upper and lower gastrointestinal tract.
For liver diseases such as hepatitis and cirrhosis, one of the measurements used is the pressure of flow and circulation of the liver, which aids in diagnosis of liver portal hypertension (high blood pressure) and liver cirrhosis. At McLeod Health, we provide a new technique for this measurement using the EchoTip Insight with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) that provides a more efficient and minimally invasive step forward in the diagnosis and treatment for patients with liver disease.
The EUS-guided Portal Pressure Measurement procedure is a revolution in the field of endo-hepatology. Endoscopists use a thin, flexible tube called an endoscope that has a built-in miniature ultrasound probe and passes the endoscope through your mouth to the area to be examined. Using the EchoTip device along with the ultrasound probe, a patient can undergo screening for esophageal varices or irregularities, a pressure gradient measurement to diagnose portal hypertension, and removal of a tissue sample for liver biopsy, all at the same time. This option is cost effective, minimally invasive and saves patients from multiple procedures. McLeod Health is the first health care system in South Carolina to offer this advanced endoscopic procedure. While not all services are appropriate for every patient, this option is an exciting and important development in the treatment of liver disease. For more information, talk to your primary care physician or gastroenterologist or visit www.McLeodHealth.org.
Amaninder Dhaliwal, MD, McLeod gastroenterologist and advanced endoscopist, performed the first endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guided portal pressure measurement in the state, using the EchoTip Device in September of 2021. Board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology, Dr. Dhaliwal provides care as part of the McLeod Digestive Health Center in Florence. For more information, call 843-777-7166.