Portal hypertension.
OBJECTIVE
This review discusses the advances in the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of the complications of portal hypertension that have occurred in the past year.


RESULTS
The specific topics reviewed are the pathophysiology of portal hypertension (including recent findings regarding intrahepatic vascular resistance and splanchnic vasodilatation) and experimental methods used to act on the mechanisms that lead to portal hypertension, as well as recent advances in the diagnosis and management of the complications of portal hypertension.


CONCLUSIONS
The specific complications discussed in this review are varices and variceal bleeding (primary prophylaxis, treatment of the acute episode, and secondary prophylaxis), portal hypertensive gastropathy, ascites, hepatorenal syndrome, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, the cardiopulmonary complications of portal hypertension (hepatopulmonary syndrome, portopulmonary hypertension, cardiac dysfunction), and hepatic encephalopathy.
Garcia-Tsao
Guadalupe
G
Section of Digestive Diseases, Yale University School of Medicine and Connecticut VA Healthcare System, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. guadalupe.garcia-tsao@yale.edu