What was the purpose of this study?

The PRELUDE1 study has now closed and we are analysing our findings which will be made public in the future.

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For most people, there are no symptoms of fatty liver, scarring or even cirrhosis until the latest stages of disease when treatment is less effective.  Routine blood tests do not diagnose scarring or cirrhosis, but it is possible to calculate scores from these tests, such as the Fib-4 used in this study to accurately rule out significant disease. If Fib-4 is negative, we can be fairly confident that patients do not have significant fibrosis. If Fib-4 is positive, then patients should have further specialist investigations.

 

PRELUDE1 focussed on people in GP practices with type 2 diabetes because they have an annual review that includes blood tests, to which we added a Fib-4 test.  Patients who had positive test results were referred for a liver fibrosis scan either at their local hospital or GP practice.  If Fib-4 testing in the annual review identifies more patients with fibrosis and is cost-effective, we would introduce this test across the NHS to target treatment and reduce the number of people who develop liver cancer or liver failure.

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