Liver cirrhosis

Liver cirrhosis is a clinically common chronic progressive liver disease, which is diffuse liver damage caused by long-term or repeated action of one or more etiologies. In China, most cases are posthepatitic cirrhosis, with a small number being alcoholic cirrhosis and schistosomal cirrhosis. Pathohistologically, there is extensive hepatocyte necrosis, nodular regeneration of residual hepatocytes, connective tissue proliferation, and fibrous septum formation, leading to destruction of the hepatic lobular structure and formation of pseudolobules, with the liver gradually becoming deformed and hardened, developing into cirrhosis. In the early stage, due to the strong compensatory function of the liver, there may be no obvious symptoms; in the later stage, the main manifestations are liver function damage and portal hypertension, with involvement of multiple systems. In the advanced stage, complications such as upper gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, secondary infection, hypersplenism, ascites, and carcinogenesis often occur.