Cirrhosis is a late-stage result of liver disease and its complications. You may not have symptoms in the beginning stages of the disease. Common causes include alcohol abuse, hepatitis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Treatment depends on the cause of cirrhosis and how much damage exists. Liver transplantation may be an option if your liver is failing.
Cirrhosis of the liver describes a condition where scar tissue gradually replaces healthy liver cells. It is a progressive disease, developing slowly over many years. If it is allowed to continue, the buildup of scar tissue can eventually stop liver function.
You are more likely to get cirrhosis of the liver if you:
Early symptoms and signs of cirrhosis include:
The most common causes of cirrhosis of the liver are:
The basic test to diagnose liver cirrhosis is using an Ultrasound Scan and a blood test called Liver Function Tests. These two can give us an idea of the presence of Liver Cirrhosis. If there is a doubt about liver cirrhosis to further categorize at which stage is the liver failure. One has to do a C.T. scan, Endoscopy and further tests.
Patients with early stage liver cirrhosis are usually managed with medicines which decrease the amount of fluid accumulation in the body which also decrease the pressure of blood reaching the liver and thereby they avoid complications. People who developed advanced stages of liver cirrhosis which we call as a third stage or C stage of liver cirrhosis. These people are candidates for liver transplant. The only option available for treating liver cirrhosis is by removing the damaged liver and fitting healthy liver from a brain-dead donor or one of the patients relatives.