How to Diagnose Liver Cirrhosis

Liver cirrhosis is the end stage for several chronic liver diseases. The word "cirrhosis" comes from the Greek "kirrhos," which means yellow, referring to the color of the diseased liver as seen at autopsy. Cirrhosis is a process characterized by a slow fibrosis of normal liver cells into abnormal nodules. The correlation between the condition of the liver and the symptoms is often poor. Here's how to diagnose liver cirrhosis.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Expect cirrhosis to be detected only incidentally in the early stage of the disease. These patients are frequently asymptomatic until the disease is advanced.

2. Observe symptoms that occur as the liver begins to fail, and healthy cells are replaced with scar tissue. The patient may experience abdominal pain, exhaustion, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, weakness and weight loss. Some patients also may exhibit a spider web pattern of blood vessels on the skin.

3. Notice symptoms of cirrhosis complications from a physical examination. These commonly include bleeding, bruising, edema, gallstones, itching and jaundice.

4. Run laboratory tests to find other signs of cirrhosis. These may reveal a greater sensitivity to medication, higher levels of toxins in the blood and portal vein hypertension. Patients with cirrhosis may also develop type-2 diabetes and liver cancer.

5. Make the diagnosis in most cases based on the symptoms, physical examination and laboratory tests. A liver biopsy can be performed to confirm the diagnosis, although this is rarely necessary. The biopsy is examined histologically for signs of scarring or disease.

Resources

• Learn more about diagnosing liver cirrhosis.

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