Liver Fibrosis: Causes and Methods of Assessment, A Review

Hepatic fibrogenesis is the final result of injury to the liver. Fibrosis could lead to hepatic dysfunction, important in the pathogenesis of other chronic problems. Therefore, understanding the mechanism, accurate diagnosis and staging of it in early stages accelerates the treatment and reduces the prevalence of chirrosis. Treatment strategies of liver problems and detction methods depend on the amount and progression of liver fibrosis and the rate of cirrhosis development. Traditionally the invasive method, liver biopsy, is reference standard to follow progression and stage of fibrosis. However, during the past decade, progressive development of novel non-invasive methodologies has challenged the invasive method. Non-invasive methods have been initially introduced for chronic hepatitis C with increasing use in other chronic liver diseases. The need for liver biopsy has nowadays decreased significantly as a result of these methodologies. Most of the new non-invasive methods depend on either 'biological' or 'physical' approaches. In this review, starting from the mechanism of fibrogenesis, the current knowledge about diagnosis, treatment strategies and different methods for its evaluation is discussed. This is followed by a conclusion on what is expected to be known in this field during the future research.