Abstract
Portal hypertension defined as pressure within the portal venous system is an important
event in the evolution of cirrhosis. With the development of clinically significant
portal hypertension, there is increased risk of developing gastroesophageal varices
and hepatic decompensation. Endoscopic evaluation of esophageal and gastric varices
and hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurement are gold standard methods
for evaluating portal hypertension. Additionally, measurement of HVPG is important
in prognostication and assessing efficacy of pharmacotherapy. New state-of-the-art
noninvasive techniques are available for diagnosis and assessment of portal hypertension
severity. While some of these are validated for larger clinical application, others
are still experimental. In this review, we have discussed invasive and noninvasive
portal hypertension measurement techniques.
Keywords
portal hypertension - hepatic venous pressure gradient - elastography
