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DIGESTIVE SERVICES

Diagnosis & Treatment

Liver & Biliary Diseases

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How are Liver Diseases Diagnosed?

Diagnosis

Liver diseases can cause symptoms that mimic other illnesses, so an accurate diagnosis is necessary. It is also essential to evaluate the condition of your liver and determine how much scarring (if any) has developed. We have all of the tools to diagnose the cause of your liver disease symptoms, including liver biopsy, interventional endoscopic procedures, and imaging tests (including Fibroscan).

Physical

Your doctor may order blood tests to measure your liver enzymes to determine liver function. Liver enzyme tests include alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), or alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Your doctor may also order liver protein or bilirubin tests.

Other physical ways of diagnosing liver disease include a liver biopsy, or checking tissue samples. Taking a biopsy of your liver can help determine whether you have signs of liver disease. Biopsies are done by inserting a long needle through the skin to take a tissue sample, which is then sent to a lab.

Imaging

Imaging tests to diagnose liver disease include ultrasounds, CT scans or MRIs, which can show signs of scarring, damage or tumors in your liver.

Noninvasive testing for liver fibrosis

We also use non-invasive technologies such as Fibroscan® and magnetic resonance elastography, which enables us to assess the condition of your liver without having to do a liver biopsy. From routine blood tests to sophisticated radiologic and endoscopic techniques, you can receive all the testing you need at NewYork-Presbyterian.

How are Liver Diseases Treated?

Treatment

Diseases of the liver can have dramatic consequences, and the treatment depends on the specific liver disease and its severity. The liver disease care teams in NewYork-Presbyterian’s Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation are among the best in the world and attract patients from across the globe.

Our experienced specialists provide a full range of liver disease treatments, including medications, interventional approaches, and minimally invasive surgeries that are not widely available elsewhere. We are also national leaders in liver transplantation — with one of the country’s largest living donor liver programs — and offer this approach for people whose liver disease cannot be effectively treated using other methods.

Your team assesses your disease and overall health to choose the most effective treatment for you. In addition to medical treatment and surgery for liver disease, we offer advanced procedures such as:

Liver transplantation

Our Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation surgeons have performed more than 2,500 liver transplants. They use a variety of approaches including living donor liver transplantation and normothermic perfusion for deceased donor liver transplant provide the greatest number of transplants possible.

Interventional endoscopy

Many liver and gallbladder diseases once treated with invasive surgery can now be managed with interventional endoscopy: procedures performed through a flexible tube inserted into your mouth (following sedation) to gain access to the bile duct. New York-Presbyterian has the largest and most pre-eminent interventional endoscopy programs in the New York region.

Examples of the procedures offered for liver and bile duct diseases include:

  • Endoscopic ultrasound
  • Spyglass visualization and probe-based confocal endomicroscopy, using a small scope to view the small branches of the bile duct
  • Narrow band imaging to view the liver and bile ducts
  • Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP)
  • Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to image the biliary system and treat bile duct blockages
Interventional radiology

Our internationally recognized interventional radiologists use the most up-to-date techniques to diagnose and treat multiple liver conditions, including biliary obstruction, portal hypertension, and liver cancer.

Investigational therapies

Patients whose disease cannot be effectively treated with other means may be eligible to participate in a clinical trial of a promising new therapy.

FAQs

FAQs

Your liver is located on the right side of your abdomen, under your ribs and above your stomach, right kidney, and intestines. Your liver weighs about three pounds. In a condition known as situs inversus, however, the liver is located on the left instead of the right side of your abdomen.

Under healthy circumstances, the liver can regenerate and repair itself. However, depending on the extent and time period of liver damage, the liver’s ability to repair itself can be impaired. Typically, late-stage liver disease like cirrhosis of the liver can’t be reversed, though further damage can be prevented.

Certain liver diseases are hereditary, meaning they are caused by genetic factors rather than lifestyle or other factors. The most common forms of inherited liver diseases include hemochromatosis, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and Wilson’s disease.

 

This content has been reviewed by the following medical editors.

Danielle Brandman, MD

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Trust NewYork-Presbyterian for Liver Disease Treatment

If you believe you may have symptoms of liver disease, the specialists at New York-Presbyterian are here to help. It’s important to be aware of liver disease symptoms in order to get treated as early as possible to prevent further liver damage.

Contact us to schedule an appointment, and we’ll connect you with an experienced team of providers who can bring you the best treatment and care.