liver cirhosis anxious to get help

[sabina2003]

ave beendiagnosed with early cirrhosis by way of a ultra sound. Utra sound results  states early hepatic parenchyaml liver disease.The Doctor has stated that further tests are required to identify which stage this  cirrhosis is at. please let me know what my prognosis is is it necessary to have biopsy if I do a MRI OR CT SCAN I am afraid that the procedure would be painful.I s endoscopy necessay .What is the prognosisof the disease I am very distressed
  
History: Hepatitis A in 1983. contracted in India
Drank wine heavily for 6 to 8 months in 2005  thereafter given up
Have taken isetronin for 3 months for rosacea
Medication:  Rostat 5 milligram : 6 months: moderately high cholesterol. Now discontinued
TRIGLYCERIDES 211
LDL 122.
  

SGOT,SGPT AND GAMMA T TESTS


SGPT                   68     HIGH
GAMMA G.T     141    HIGH
SGOT                   44    HIGH


FULL BLOOD COUNT NORMAL

SERUM ALKALINE PHOSTASE                            295
PROTHROBIN TIME                                                    9.70 LOW
PROTHROBIN RATIO                                                 0.81
CREATININE ADN ELETROLYTES                         NORMAL


Other tests:
ANTI NUCLEAR ANTIBODY RESULT NEGATIVE
CERULOPLSMIN NORMAL

HEPATITIS B AND C NEGATIVE

SERUM IRON NORMAL
U.I.B.C NORMAL
TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY NORMAL
SERUM IRON SATURATION NORMAL
LIVER KIDNEY MICROSOMAL NEGATIVE
ALPHA 1 ANTITRYPSIN NEGATIVE

ANTI SMOOTH MUSCLE ANTIBODY negative
I

[ill13632]

I'm taking milk thistle at double the dose and started taking a choline amino acid supplement liver rite

[ill13632]

can N acetyl cysteine help or is it unsafe to take that

[mzkity]

You should ask your Dr. As he/she is the one who should be monitoring you if you had surgery.   Good luck!

[ill13632]

is there a medication that can lower levels?  or is the only treatment to completely stop all medications and rest?

[ill13632]

what can you do if anything to lower AST/ALT levels?  I'm taking milk thistle and charcoal for my 80/250 levels
I think it was after my operation and being given too much Percocet, even though I avoided taking it

[Advocate1955]

Compensated Cirrhosis is early Cirrhosis, and is at stage 4.
As Hector said, there are 4 broad stages of liver damage.  0 = no damage (scarring), 1=minimal scarring, 2=moderate scarring, 3=more severe scarring, and 4=Cirrhosis (advanced scarring).  After one has reached stage 4 (Cirrhosis), there are different gradations as well.  Broadly speaking the first gradation of Cirrhosis is compensated Cirrhosis, in which the liver functions well and is able to do its job.  The second gradation of Cirrhosis is decompensated Cirrhosis, in which the liver does not function well and has difficulty doing it's job.
It sounds like you're not sure yet exactly what your stage of liver damage is, so you really need to see a hepatologist or a good gastroenterologist to find out what is the state of health of your liver and the cause of your liver disease  before we can answer questions.
Advocate1955

[sabina2003]

No. I am afraid you misunderstand the progression of liver disease. Liver disease has stages 0,1 ,2, 3 and 4. Stage 4 being cirrhosis. Stage 0 means there is no damage to the liver. Stages 1-3 are stages of fibrosis NOT cirrhosis. Stage 4 is cirrhosis which is scarring of the liver

thanks for all the kind reply I have got an appointment with a hepatologist however this appointment is one month from today at the liver clinic .I wish to find out if compensated cirrhosis is stage 1,2,3, of liver disease when fibrosis sets in or is after stage four liver disease please let me know as I anxious abut my situation

[sabina2003]

thank you for taking all trouble to answer my queries I pray to God that he give a long life for the help you have given to others in times of their distress God protect you and give you a long life so that you may have opportunity to help people in distress

[HectorSF]

The word parenchymal means the functional part of the liver. So "early parenchymal liver disease" just means early liver disease. A very vague statement and not a diagnoses of any kind. But then again and ultrasound is not used to tell the difference between stages of liver disease.

"I have read in many websites that cirrhosis has stages stages 1  compensated,2 ,3 ,4  the last stage decompensated is end stage cirrhosis"

No. I am afraid you misunderstand the progression of liver disease. Liver disease has stages 0,1 ,2, 3 and 4. Stage 4 being cirrhosis. Stage 0 means there is no damage to the liver. Stages 1-3 are stages of fibrosis NOT cirrhosis. Stage 4 is cirrhosis which is scarring of the liver. Using a biopsy a person either stage 4 cirrhosis or not. I biopsy can not tell beginning compensated cirrhosis from decompensated cirrhosis. That is determined by the complications a patients experiences. The first sign of decompensated cirrhosis is usually ascites (fluid retention in the abdomen) Bleeding varices is also a sign of decompensated cirrhosis. This is when a patient either vomits or defecates blood. There are also many more symptoms and blood level abnormalities as the liver becomes unable to perform all of its functions.

"The liver biopsy is an important diagnostic tool because it is considered the most precise procedure we have today for evaluating the health of the liver by measuring the degree of liver inflammation and staging of fibrosis for  predicting disease progression and treatment  outcome. "
For example their is the Metavir scoring system.
The fibrosis score is also assigned a number from 0-4:
• 0 = no scarring
• 1 = minimal scarring
• 2 = scarring has occurred and extends outside
the areas in the liver that contains blood vessels
• 3=bridging fibrosis is spreading and
connecting to other areas that contain fibrosis
• 4=cirrhosis or advanced scarring of the liver

"portal vein maintain its normal velocity and normal direction to the flow"
The Portal Vein should have constant forward flow into the liver (hepatopetal flow) . If there is flow reversal,this is hepatofugal and represents portal hypertension.
You do NOT have portal hypertension which occurs when someone has complete compensated cirrhosis because the scarring of the liver prevents flow though the liver.

Find a doctor (gastroenterologist or hepatologist) that can diagnose the cause of your liver disease and answer your questions.

Good luck.
Hector

[Kadeeta]

Dear Sabina ,you really need to see a good doctor as Hector already suggested to you.Look for a prominent gastroenterologist who treats liver diseases. That is the only way to know what are the further steps .Be positive ,the doctor may find out the reason you are sick and he/she will treat you IF you are sick.But still ,you do not know for sure what is going on there .Take care .

[sabina2003]

my ultrasound results also stated that my portal vein is prominent 10.1 mm in diameter and maintain its normal velocity and normal direction to the flow

hepatic arteries shows evidence of increase resistance to the forward flow


could this mean that it is in the second stage of cirrhosis please et me know what you views

please also let me know your views regarding this finding

[sabina2003]

thanks for taking trouble to answer my question I really do appreciate your help please let me know .I have read in many websites that cirrhosis has stages stages 1  compensated,2 ,3 ,4  the last stage decompensated is end stage cirrhosis please let me know  if my condition early parenchymal liver disease fall under any of these stages. Also the radiologist who did the ultrasound said that it is not fatty liver sorry for the troublesome question

[sabina2003]

thanks for taking trouble to answer my question I really do appreciate your help please let me know .I have read in many websites that cirrhosis has stages stages 1 ,2 ,3 ,4  the last stage is end stage cirrhosis please let me know  if my condition early parenchymal liver disease fall under any of these stages. Also the radiologist who did the ultrasound said that it is not fatty liver sorry for the troublesome question

[HectorSF]

"ave been diagnosed with early cirrhosis by way of a ultra sound. Utra sound results  states early hepatic parenchyaml liver disease.The Doctor has stated that further tests are required to identify which stage this  cirrhosis is at. please let me know what my prognosis is is it necessary to have biopsy '

"early hepatic parenchyaml liver disease" is NOT cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is stage 4 liver disease and is the last stage of liver disease. There are no stages of cirrhosis that can be seen by biopsy.

An ultrasound is not used to diagnose cirrhosis. You need a biopsy to know if you have cirrhosis or not. Ultrasound, CT scans and MRI are used to look at abnormal anatomy such as lesions or tumors. The blood results posted also do not tell the condition of your liver only that something was injuring it when you had the blood drawn.

I biopsy is not painful if performed properly. It sounds worse than it is. It is the only way to now what stage of liver disease you have unless you have very advanced liver disease and are suffering from the complications of advanced cirrhosis.  

I hope you are seeing a doctor how is an expert in liver disease. A hepatologist or a gastroenterologist with a lot of liver disease experience. They should be able to diagnose the cause of your liver disease soon. If not they are not an expect and seek help elsewhere as it is not clear how serious your liver disease is from the information you posted.

Meanwhile try not to worry because you don't even have a proper disgnoses yet. If the cause can be found they may be able to stop further damage to your liver.

Good luck!
Hector