Noninvasive assessment of portal hypertension in cirrhosis: liver stiffness and beyond

World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Dec 7;20(45):16811-9. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i45.16811.

Abstract

Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) is a good, but still limited tool to noninvasively assess complications and prognosis in patients with advanced liver disease. This review aims to consider the role of LSM for the diagnosis of portal hypertension-related complications and for assessment of prognosis in cirrhotic patients, and to highlight the drawbacks as well as some alternatives for improving the performance. Hence, this field is far from being closed, and deserves more attention. There is still a place for more carefully designed studies to find new, innovative and reliable approaches.

Keywords: Complication; Liver stiffness; Portal hypertension; Prediction; Spleen stiffness.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Blood Pressure Determination
  • Elasticity
  • Elasticity Imaging Techniques*
  • Humans
  • Hypertension, Portal / blood
  • Hypertension, Portal / diagnosis*
  • Hypertension, Portal / etiology
  • Hypertension, Portal / pathology
  • Hypertension, Portal / physiopathology
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Liver / pathology*
  • Liver Cirrhosis / blood
  • Liver Cirrhosis / complications
  • Liver Cirrhosis / diagnosis*
  • Liver Cirrhosis / pathology
  • Portal Pressure
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prognosis
  • Spleen / pathology

Substances

  • Biomarkers