Revision and update on clinical practice guideline for liver cirrhosis

[...]a clinical practice guideline appropriate for the medical milieu of Korea is important for both patients and clinicians. [...]it is currently necessary to revise and update the clinical practice guideline based on new evidence over the past 6 years regarding the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of LC. [...]the Korean Association for the Study of the Liver undertook a revision and update of the clinical practice guideline co-organized by the Liver Cirrhosis Clinical Research Center. Nodularity of the liver surface showed a specificity of 95%.2-4,7 Additionally, other radiologic findings such as splenomegaly, blunt angle, morphological changes (nodularity of liver surface, atrophy of right lobe, hypertrophy of left and caudate lobe, expansion of periportal space, and intrahepatic nodule), velocity of portal flow, shape of hepatic vein waveform (Doppler test),2,4,8 and caudate lobe/right lobe ratio (CT or MRI) are useful indices.9 If the caudate lobe/right lobe ratio is above 0.65, it can indicate LC, and its sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy reach 84%, 100%, and 94%, respectively.10 1-3. Pathological diagnosis of liver cirrhosis The gold standard for confirming the diagnosis of LC is liver biopsy, but it is invasive and susceptible to a sampling error and inter-observer discrepancy. [...]liver biopsy has not been widely used in clinical practice.