Cirrhosis is a dynamic process that leads to progressive liver failure with development of portal hypertension and associated complications. Our current understanding of cirrhosis has come a long way from the time Rene Laennec first coined the term. Cirrhosis can be diagnosed with conformity utilizing histology, a trend that is changing in the current era of hemodynamic studies. To understand cirrhosis and its evolutionary stages, we must first understand fibrosis and the subsequent changes that occur, leading to cirrhosis at the histological level, correlate this with the investigational changes, and ultimately, know regarding hemodynamic progression. In this review, we discuss stages of cirrhosis from an investigational, imaging, histological and hemodynamic point of view; discuss the diagnosis of cirrhosis within the same aspects and in keeping with current changing scenarios.
Key words: Cirrhosis, portal hypertension, HVPG, fibrosis, HCV, HBV, NASH
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