Figure 1.

Disease stages in cirrhosis. The natural history of cirrhosis comprises 2 key phases—compensated cirrhosis, a long asymptomatic phase, followed by decompensated cirrhosis. Decompensated cirrhosis is characterized by complications of synthetic dysfunction and portal hypertension; ascites development, portal hypertensive bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, jaundice, and infection. This is driven by rising portal pressure (measured by HVPG) and increased bacterial translocation and resultant systemic inflammation, accompanied by decreased splanchnic circulation vascular resistance and decreased cardiac output. Created with biorender.com. HVPG; hepatic venous pressure gradient.