Patient's question:
Uncle has had liver disease for many years. In recent years, because the condition was not very serious, he did not receive serious treatment. Recently, Uncle went to the hospital for a physical examination due to sudden physical discomfort. The doctor said that Uncle's liver disease has already progressed to the compensated stage of cirrhosis. The physical symptoms and condition are not well understood by everyone.Doctor's answer:
Compensated cirrhosis generally refers to a clinical diagnosis without any specific symptoms or signs, with no obvious abnormalities in liver function tests, but with significant pathological changes in liver histology. The liver function may be normal or mildly abnormal, and portal hypertension may be present, but there is no ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, or upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This stage is called compensated cirrhosis. In compensated cirrhosis, the clinical manifestations are similar to those of chronic hepatitis B, often requiring a liver biopsy to distinguish between the two.