Nowadays people are more familiar with hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis, but are still relatively unfamiliar with liver fibrosis. Liver fibrosis is a “critical point” where liver lesions gradually worsen, and people should be highly vigilant.

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The “Trilogy” of Liver Disease Progression

Virus Viral hepatitis – liver cirrhosis – liver cancer is called the “three steps” of liver disease progression, and viral hepatitis must go through the stage of liver fibrosis in order to develop into liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Therefore, liver fibrosis is a signal of liver disease, which should be paid full attention.

What is liver fibrosis

Liver fibrosis is caused by various pathogenic factors abnormal hyperplasia of connective tissue in the liver. Any liver injury has a process of liver fibrosis in the process of liver repair and healing, which is a change in the liver tissue structure formed on the basis of chronic liver injury such as long-term hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and autoimmune hepatitis.

With active treatment, liver fibrosis may be reversed and cured. However, if the damage factors cannot be removed for a long time, the fibrosis process of the liver will continue for a long time, and if it is not effectively controlled, the tissue structure will change and lead to liver cirrhosis. At this point, the condition is difficult to reverse. Therefore, the early diagnosis of liver fibrosis is of great significance to the reversal of liver fibrosis, the prevention of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Chronic viral hepatitis is the most likely to “cause trouble”

Clinically, there are many causes of liver fibrosis, among which the more common are Viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver, fatty liver, autoimmune liver disease, parasitic disease, etc. In particular, patients with chronic viral hepatitis suffer from long-term illness and unsatisfactory disease control. Many patients are accustomed to the disease and neglect treatment, and are often prone to develop liver fibrosis.

Nowadays, with the promotion of hepatitis B vaccination, liver fibrosis caused by other liver injuries is gradually increasing.

Medical research has found that people who drink heavily for a long time, are overweight or take drugs that can cause liver damage for a long time are also prone to liver damage in the process of long-term liver damage and repair. fibrosis. Patients with a family history of liver disease should pay more attention to the prevention of liver fibrosis. Usually, they should avoid strenuous or prolonged exercise, do not overwork, and do not take drugs that may cause liver damage. In particular, they should avoid taking drugs after drinking alcohol, and they should go to bed on time. , to ensure adequate sleep, to maintain a happy mood.

Diagnosis requires additional examinations

Because the specific etiology of liver fibrosis is different, the symptoms of patients are also different, and even the differences are relatively different. big. Often patients experience symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, gas after meals, indigestion, discomfort or pain in the liver area.

Many patients have long-term symptoms such as fatigue and weakness before the onset of disease, which may be caused by chronic viral hepatitis or early symptoms of liver fibrosis. Especially in patients with chronic hepatitis B, if they always feel very tired, they need to pay special attention to review.

There are also some patients who regard the inappropriate upper abdomen as stomach pain or indigestion. Long-term use of drugs to treat stomach problems not only delays the treatment of hepatitis B, but also aggravates liver damage. Eventually it develops into cirrhosis.

It should be noted that even if the degree of liver fibrosis or cirrhosis is quite severe, there are still a small number of patients with no typical symptoms.

The most common methods for diagnosing liver fibrosis are ultrasonography, CT, magnetic resonance, and the superposition of these techniques. In addition, fasting blood test for liver function, liver fibrosis spectrum and other indicators can also indicate liver fibrosis. However, an increase in the liver fibrosis spectrum index alone does not mean that liver fibrosis must be diagnosed, and mood, diet, and fatigue may all affect the test results. Therefore, when the liver fibrosis spectrum index is found to be elevated, it is necessary to regularly review and compare the changes in the index, and comprehensively consider the medical history and other test results, in order to make an accurate judgment.

Traumatic liver biopsy is considered the “gold standard” for diagnosing liver fibrosis and can determine the severity of liver fibrosis; however, in heterogeneous liver fibrosis In the case of pathological examination, less tissue is taken, and if there is no lesion at the puncture site, it may also lead to missed diagnosis.

Active treatment of the primary disease is the basis and key to the treatment of liver fibrosis, such as anti-HBV therapy. At the same time, we should pay attention to correct bad living habits, quit smoking and limit alcohol, eat regularly, and exercise appropriately. If liver fibrosis has already occurred, there is no need to panic. Active treatment and strict life management can delay the aggravation of liver fibrosis and even reverse the process of liver fibrosis.

Text/Du Xuefeng

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