Cirrhosis of the Liver

Your liver is a football-sized organ on the right side of your belly, just below your ribs. It has many important jobs:

Cirrhosis is a disease in which scar tissue replaces normal liver tissue. The scar tissue grows when your liver is damaged repeatedly over time.

Severe cirrhosis that goes on for a long time can cause several problems:

Liver failure causes many serious complications:

Portal hypertension causes blood to back up in the veins connected to the liver. These veins may enlarge and twist. The veins at the lower end of the esophagus, in the stomach, or in the rectum may be affected. Enlarged, twisted veins are fragile and prone to bleeding, so you may:

If you bleed slowly and it continues for a long time, you may have a low blood count (anemia Anemia Due to Excessive Bleeding Anemia due to excessive bleeding results when loss of red blood cells exceeds production of new red blood cells. When blood loss is rapid, blood pressure falls, and people may be dizzy. When... read more ). If you bleed rapidly, your blood pressure may become dangerously low (shock Shock Shock is a medical emergency caused by your organs not getting enough blood and oxygen. It has nothing to do with the "shock" we feel when something scares or upsets us. When your body can't... read more ). You may even die.

Liver cancer can develop. If you have cirrhosis, your doctor will do an ultrasound Ultrasonography Ultrasonography is a safe imaging test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the insides of your body. Ultrasonography doesn't use radiation (x-rays). Ultrasonography is also called... read more every 6 months to check for liver cancer Liver Cancer Your liver is a football-sized organ on the right side of your belly, just below your ribs. It helps you digest food and makes substances that help your body work. There are 2 kinds of liver... read more .

The most common causes of cirrhosis include:

Many people with cirrhosis don’t have any symptoms for years.

When you do get symptoms, they can include:

If your cirrhosis is caused by alcohol or a long-term liver disorder, you may also have:

Your doctor will suspect you have cirrhosis if you drink too much or have hepatitis and have some of the symptoms listed above. To tell if you have cirrhosis, doctors will:

A liver biopsy Biopsy of the Liver Doctors can obtain a sample of liver tissue during exploratory surgery, but more often they obtain a sample by inserting a hollow needle through the person's skin and into the liver. This type... read more (in which a small piece of the liver is removed to look at under a microscope) may be needed if the other tests aren't clear.

There is no cure for cirrhosis. The liver damage is permanent. Doctors will treat your symptoms. You can also help keep the cirrhosis from getting worse by doing the following:

If you have portal hypertension Portal Hypertension The portal vein is the large blood vessel that brings blood from your intestines to your liver. Hypertension is a medical term for high blood pressure. So, portal hypertension is high blood... read more and enlarged, twisted veins in your esophagus (the tube that connects your throat to your stomach), doctors may:

If those things don't work, your doctor may put a thin plastic tube in the veins of your liver to re-route the blood and lower the pressure.

If your liver is very bad and barely working, you may need a liver transplant Liver Transplantation Liver transplantation is the surgical removal of a healthy liver or sometimes a part of a liver from a living person and then its transfer into a person whose liver no longer functions. (See... read more (surgery to replace your bad liver with a healthy one). Because alcohol will damage your new liver too, doctors usually do a transplant only if you have stopped drinking.