Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is a topic covered in the Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics.

To view the entire topic, please or purchase a subscription.

The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics helps you diagnose and treat hundreds of medical conditions. Consult clinical recommendations from a resource that has been trusted on the wards for 50+ years. Explore these free sample topics:

Washington Manual

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

  • Cirrhosis is a chronic condition characterized by diffuse replacement of liver cells by fibrotic tissue, which creates a nodular-appearing distortion of the normal liver architecture. Advanced fibrosis represents the end result of many etiologies of liver injury.
  • Cirrhosis affects nearly 5.5 million Americans. In 2009, it was the 12th leading cause of death in the United States.1
  • The most common etiologies are alcohol-related liver disease, chronic viral infection, and NAFLD (diagnosis and treatment discussed earlier in respective sections).
  • Main complications of cirrhosis include portal hypertension with various clinical manifestations (ascites, esophageal and gastric varices, portal hypertensive gastropathy and colopathy, hypersplenism, gastric antral vascular ectasia, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis [SBP], hepatorenal syndrome [HRS], hepatic encephalopathy, and HCC). Frequent laboratory abnormalities encountered in a patient with cirrhosis include anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, hypoalbuminemia, coagulopathy, and hyperbilirubinemia.

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or purchase a subscription --