Fibrosis of the liver - the severity of the pathological condition
Fibrosis of the liver is a proliferation of connective tissue without changing the structure of the organ, but the cells in it can not be restored. Pathology progresses very slowly and there are no symptoms. When the liver is affected because of a viral infection, drinking alcoholic beverages, the effects of toxic substances, physical injuries and other factors, then immunity is included in the work. At the same time, cells die or the processes of metabolism in them are disrupted.
Initially, grade 1 liver fibrosis is a protective reaction to maintain the proper structure of the liver after cavities have formed in place of dead cells. Nature has also envisaged other processes - this is the subsequent regeneration of the liver cells, which manifests itself through the growth of healthy cells, and hence the organ as a whole.
Why does fibrosis start in the liver?
There are several known causes of fibrosis in the liver. First of all, it is a hereditary factor or congenital abnormalities, as well as prolonged drug, alcohol or toxic poisoning.
Viral form of chronic hepatitis, diabetes mellitus, obesity, prolonged shortage in the body of any vitamins and mineral components.
Signs and main manifestations of disease progression
Early stages of the progression of fibrosis are too difficult to diagnose, because they can not provoke any deviations in the functioning of the body. To establish the severity of the disease, doctors develop different methods of blood tests, for example, the number of markers is established. Now, modern medicine recognizes the most effective in diagnosing liver biopsy. Take a small sample of organ tissue with a special needle, it is mixed with a special dye and examined using a microscope. To monitor the speed of the development of the disease and timely reaction to the lesion, a biopsy should be performed at least once in three to five years.
Fibrosis of the liver of the 1st degree or liver fibrosis of the 2nd degree can cause an increase in the size of the spleen together with a decrease in the concentration of leukocytes, erythrocytes and platelets in the blood. In this regard, anemia develops anemia. If the disease is converted into cirrhosis, then varicose veins occur along with a hemorrhage in them.
The increase in the liver should not be specifically attributed to the development of fibrosis, since it will only be the determining factor that the liver is able to withstand the agents that attack it, using the remaining stocks for this. If the pathology is transformed into cirrhosis, the symptoms of hepatic fibrosis are characterized by a small organ size.
The extent of liver damage caused by fibrosis with the development of a chronic form of hepatitis will affect the further predictions of the disease and the need for urgent treatment.
Five main degrees of hepatic fibrosis are known in medicine: 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4. The fourth stage is cirrhosis. The prognosis of liver fibrosis 4 degrees is not very good, as it progresses rapidly. More often, the rate of progression correlates with the activity of inflammatory processes in the liver. Detect the degree of the disease can be due to biopsy, and the most accurate way is considered a puncture biopsy.
The first degree of fibrosis does not affect the formation of septa and is limited only by fibrotic disorders in the portal tracts. Fibrosis of the second degree is represented by a small formation of septum on the background of fibrotic changes in the portal tracts. The prognosis of fibrosis of the liver of the third degree strongly worsens, since it forms a multitude of fibrous septa. The fourth degree of fibrosis causes the appearance of a false lobe of the liver - this is the beginning of cirrhosis.
The rate of conversion of fibrosis to the most severe stage largely depends on the type of disease:
- The non-cirrhotic form of portal fibrosis most often develops on the basis of chronic forms of heart failure, with infectious and parasitic lesions. For this condition, sclerotic changes and thrombi in the vessels of the portal system of the liver are characteristic. Such pathology most often arises from the abuse of alcoholic beverages, the presence of viral or autoimmune hepatitis, toxic poisoning with arsenic, iron and copper, long-term use of medicines.
- Periportal form of fibrosis is characterized by a strong severity of leaking, supplemented by portal hypertension. Pathology develops as a complication from schistosomiasis - a parasitic lesion, the infection of which begins through dirty water. All the insidiousness of schistosomiasis is a dangerous complication after 15 years - this is the ingression of helminth into the human body.
Implementation of diagnosis and treatment of fibrosis
It is difficult to diagnose the initial stages of the disease. The first signs develop only after five to seven years of slow progression of the pathology. For the diagnosis, the patient gives blood and urine tests, ultrasound is performed on the abdominal organs, as well as multi-chamber scanning of the same organs on a special apparatus.
The most accurate method of diagnosis is, of course, a biopsy that helps to establish not only the fact of the lesion, but also its stage. The image of the liver tissue is selected with a special needle, then mixed with the dye and studied under a microscope. A biopsy helps to track the stages of fibrotic disorders.
In order to diagnose fibrosis, provoked by schistosomiasis, the analysis of feces is required. In addition, the patient clarifies the information about whether he was in countries where the risk of damage to pathology is high, for example, in China, Egypt and Greece.
If you suspect a congenital fibrosis, you need to collect data about the relatives of the patient affected by the same illness.
It is believed that connective tissue can not be converted back to normal, so it is impossible to achieve full recovery. But medical research proves the opposite - they testify to the reversibility of the pathological process in the liver with the provision of effective treatment of hepatitis B and C.
For this, the concentration of elements entering the body that can accumulate in the body is reduced - copper and iron. According to this information, the treatment process involves the coping of the causes that cause an increase in the volume of connective tissue, a decrease in the activity of the pathological process in the liver.
First of all, the treatment of liver fibrosis is correlated with the rejection of alcohol consumption, with the therapy of viral hepatitis. In addition, drug therapy is carried out with drugs that help the liver function and reduce the inflammatory process.
The patient must necessarily follow his own behavior, namely:
- Regularly doing physical exercises.
- Learn to avoid stressful situations.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle and follow up on nutrition.
- Do not drink alcohol.