The iLFT study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot evaluation of a synergistic liver diagnostic pathway: Making sense of LFTs for patients, GPs and the NHS in Scotland. Intelligent Liver Function Testing.
IRAS ID
189385
Contact name
John/F Dillon
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Dundee
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Abnormal blood tests associated with liver damage, are common, and can be due to a number of causes. They may be a marker of potentially curable liver disease that would otherwise be fatal. For many patients these abnormal Liver Function Tests (LFTs) are not investigated further and for those that are the current practice is to find an explanation for the abnormality by a lengthy process of further investigations with costs to both the patient and the health service.
With the dramatic rise in the rate of testing of LFTs and the number of abnormalities this is not sustainable nor good for patient care.
It is therefore important to investigate how to maximise health gain and minimise costs in the management of LFTs. The proposed iLFT study will set out to maximise the efficiency of requesting LFTs and automatically testing for further blood markers should there be abnormalities on the initial LFT, thereby saving the patient returning for another test or indeed the abnormality being missed.
Also where abnormalities are found the GP will be directed to instructions on likely diagnoses and best practice management of that condition. This should improve patient care and reduce the number of unnecessary referral to liver hospital specialist services.REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
15/ES/0147
Date of REC Opinion
28 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion