Title:Recent Advancements in Diagnosis and Therapy of Liver Cirrhosis
Volume: 17
Issue: 15
Author(s): Roberto Giulio Romanelli and Cristina Stasi
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Complications, fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, liver, transient elastography.
Abstract: Cirrhosis is a diffuse pathophysiological state of the liver considered to be
the final stage of various liver injuries, characterized by chronic necroinflammatory
and fibrogenetic processes, with subsequent conversion of normal liver architecture
into structurally abnormal nodules, dense fibrotic septa, concomitant parenchymal exaustment
and collapse of the liver tissue. Alcoholic liver disease and chronic infections
due to HBV and/or HCV constitute the main causes of liver cirrhosis worldwide.
During a lag time of 15 to 30 years, chronic liver diseases can lead to liver cirrhosis
and its complications. Active hepatic inflammation plays a pivotal role in the inflammation-
necrosis-regeneration process, which eventually leads to liver cirrhosis and
hepatocellular carcinoma. Prognosis of liver cirrhosis is highly variable and influenced
by several variables, such as etiology, severity of liver disease, presence of complications and comorbidities.
In advanced cirrhosis, survival decreases to one or two years. Correct advanced diagnosis
and selected treatment with different molecules may help in understanding mechanisms of fibrogenesis,
the driving forces of cirrhosis’s pathogenesis, and the scrupulous approach to more effective therapeutic
procedures. Prevention of fibrosis with further deterioration of liver function through specific treatments
is always required, through the removal of the underlying causes of liver disease. Advanced liver disease,
with subsequent complications, requires targeted treatment. Therefore, the aim of this review is to
assess the diagnosis and treatment of liver cirrhosis on the pathophysiological bases, searching for relevant
studies published in English using the PubMed database from 2011 to the present.
