Portal pressure measurement: Have we come full circle?

Portal hypertension develops during the natural history of cirrhosis and is responsible for its main clinical adverse events, including gastroesophageal variceal bleeding, ascites, hepatorenal syndrome, and hepatic encephalopathy. The degree of portal hypertension is an independent factor for survival among patients with cirrhosis.1 The most common but indirect method of assessing the portal gradient is the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG), which is calculated as the difference between free hepatic vein pressure and wedged hepatic vein pressure (WHVP).
Source: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research