Hepatic cirrhosis
Liver cirrhosis is currently one of the first 5 causes of death in both men and women, it is a real health problem due to the complications that the disease can present and that have a direct impact on the patient's survival, so the diagnosis Timely and accurate treatment of complications has a direct impact on survival and quality of life.
What are the causes?
The causes of liver cirrhosis are multiple, since any direct inflammatory stimulus to the liver can cause damage that progresses to cirrhosis. Given this, the main causes of liver damage that can progress to cirrhosis are: alcohol, hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, autoimmune liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, metabolic diseases, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (fat in the liver).
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms in cirrhotic patients are completely vague until the time of complications, so the intentional search for liver damage can lead us to diagnose the patient early, so that the risk populations will be those patients with significant alcohol intake, presence of hepatitis B or C virus, autoimmunity, or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
If a patient shows laboratory abnormalities in liver function tests, prolonged clotting times, decreased platelets, low albumin, elevated bilirubin, or an enlarged spleen by ultrasound, specialist care should be requested.
What are the complications?
They appear in the advanced phase of the disease and are the presence of fluid in the abdomen (ascites), alterations in alertness (hepatic encephalopathy), malnutrition, upper digestive tract bleeding from esophageal and/or gastric varices, infections, and risk of liver cancer.
Is there treatment?
There is only one curative treatment, and this is liver transplantation. But the cirrhotic patient must be treated precisely for all complications, which can be controlled in their entirety, or in the best of cases, anticipate their appearance.
Is liver transplantation a treatment option?
If it is, there are few centers that carry out liver transplantation in the country, but it is a real option, and every patient who presents a first complication of cirrhosis should be included in a liver transplantation list.