Clinical Investigation of Portal Hypertension

Liver cirrhosis is defined anatomically by the presence throughout the liver of fibrous septa that subdivide the parenchyma into nodules. Cirrhotic nodules often accompany the loss of parenchyma known as parenchymal extinction. Cirrhosis is considered not as an independent disease entity but as a pathologic feature of the terminal stage of various chronic progressive liver diseases. Portal hypertension is the most important complication of cirrhosis, which is caused by obstruction of portal and hepatic veins and arteriovenous shunts in fibrous septa.