Laboratory diagnostics

Liver fibrosis 

Patients can be at risk of death even without exhibiting symptoms

5min
Andrea Lutz
Published on 18. Dezember 2020

The liver is the largest gland in the human body and, weighing roughly two kilograms, it is the second largest organ after the skin. Its varied functions include supplying the brain with glucose, filtering toxins out of the blood, producing proteins, and much more. This means that a well-functioning liver is of vital importance. Yet diseases of the liver are among the top five causes of death among the middle-aged in many industrialized countries today. Liver cirrhosis and liver tumors are even among the ten most frequent causes of death worldwide.[1]

Liver fibrosis – how does the disease progress and who does it afflict?

Causes of liver diseases

How does fibrosis develop?

Lobular structure of the liver

Why is fibrosis so dangerous?

1 in 5 advanced fibrosis patients evolves to cirrhosis in as little as two and a half years.

Diagnosis – what examination methods are available?

Diagnosis by surgical intervention: biopsy

How diagnosis works: biopsy

An established diagnostic method: examination by ultrasound

How diagnosis works: elastography

A noninvasive test method: diagnosis by blood sampling

How diagnosis works: biomarker test

The treatment objective is to maintain the status quo

Is there hope for the future?


By Andrea Lutz
Andrea Lutz is a journalist and business trainer specialized on medical topics, technology, and healthcare IT. She lives in Nuremberg, Germany.