Space occupying liver lesion
Adult

Hepatology

Useful Management Information

Medical management

  • Screening and vaccination for Hepatitis A
  • Screening and vaccination for Hepatitis B
  • Address substance misuse (alcohol, illicit and prescription drugs)
  • Consider cessation of hepatotoxic medication, herbal preparations, supplements
  • Lifestyle modification (increased activity, dietary, weight, smoking)

Minimum Referral Criteria

Does your patient meet the minimum referral criteria?
Category 1 (appointment within 30 calendar days)
  • Suspected or known chronic liver disease with new lesion (excluding simple cysts), suspected hepatocellular cancer on imaging, elevated AFP
  • No suspected underlying liver disease with lesion suspicious for neoplasia on imaging
Category 2 (appointment within 90 calendar days)
  • Other liver lesions
Category 3 (appointment within 365 calendar days)
  • No category 3 criteria
  • If the patient does not meet the criteria for referral but the referring practitioner believes the patient requires specialist review, a clinical override may be requested:
    • Please explain why (e.g. warning signs or symptoms, clinical modifiers, uncertain about diagnosis, etc.)
  • Please note that your referral may not be accepted or may be redirected to another service.

Essential Referral Information

  • Details of presenting issues
  • Comorbidities and past medical history
  • Height, weight and BMI
  • History of liver disease and/or previous cancer
  • Alcohol and medication history (including hormones, non-prescription, herbs and supplements)
  • Risk factors for viral hepatitis
  • ELFTs, FBC, Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) results less than 3 months old
  • HBV, HCV serology results
  • All historical liver imaging reports

If a specific test result cannot be obtained due to access, financial, religious, cultural or consent reasons a clinical override may be requested. This reason must be clearly articulated in the body of the referral.

Additional Referral Information

  • Family history of HCC
  • Tumour markers (carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (Ca 19-9), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA))
  • Prior gastroscopy and colonoscopy reports
Last updated 19 February 2025

Send Referrals To

Smart Referrals

Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals

Secure Web Transfer

Send to: Gold Coast Health Service District

Internal Referrals

Hepatology (E-Blueslips)

Fax

(07) 5687 4497

Post

Booking and Referral Centre
Gold Coast University Hospital
1 Hospital Boulevard
Southport QLD 4215

Enquiries

1300 559 083

Related HealthPathways

No directly related pathways found

Service Availability

Dr Russell Canavan
Medical Director Hepatology, and Gastroenterology

Facilities

Gold Coast University Hospital

If you would like to send a named referral, please address it to the specialist listed above, who will allocate a suitably qualified specialist to see the patient. Alternatively, you can view a full list of our specialists.

Gold Coast Health - For Clinicians
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