Portal hypertension is responsible for a major part of complications of liver disease. The increase in portal pressure is attributable to an enhanced vascular resistance followed by an increase in portal venous inflow. The causes of the increase in portal resistance can be prehepatic (i.e., portal venous thrombosis), intrahepatic (most often cirrhosis), or posthepatic (Budd-Chiari syndrome). Furthermore, intrahepatic portal hypertension can be classified as presinusoidal, sinusoidal, and postsinusoidal; the last type being characteristic for human cirrhosis.
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