Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver cancer, mostly affecting people with cirrhosis. Regular ultrasound screening every six months can detect tumors early, improving survival from under 20% to over 70%. Learn the latest guidelines, treatments, and why many patients still miss screening.
Cirrhosis Surveillance: What You Need to Know About Monitoring Liver Damage
When your liver is scarred from long-term damage, cirrhosis surveillance, a structured approach to tracking liver disease progression and catching life-threatening complications before they become emergencies. It's not about curing the scarring—it's about stopping what comes next. Without regular checks, cirrhosis can quietly lead to liver cancer, dangerous fluid buildup, or life-threatening bleeding. This isn’t theoretical—studies show that people with cirrhosis who get routine surveillance are far more likely to survive long-term.
Cirrhosis surveillance isn’t one test. It’s a mix of tools that work together. The big ones are liver function tests, blood work that measures enzymes, bilirubin, and albumin to see how well your liver is still working, and ultrasound scans, a painless imaging method used every 6 months to spot tumors or changes in liver texture. You’ll also be watched for portal hypertension, high blood pressure in the vein that carries blood to your liver, which can cause dangerous swelling in your belly or veins in your esophagus. These aren’t just lab results—they’re early warning signs. If your doctor skips these checks, you’re playing Russian roulette with your liver.
Who needs this? Anyone with diagnosed cirrhosis, whether from alcohol, hepatitis B or C, fatty liver disease, or other causes. Even if you feel fine, the damage can be hiding. Some people don’t get symptoms until it’s too late. Surveillance isn’t optional—it’s the difference between catching a tumor early when it’s treatable, and finding out too late that it’s spread. It’s also why you need to know your eGFR and platelet count. Low platelets can mean your spleen is enlarged from portal hypertension. A dropping eGFR might signal kidney strain from liver failure. These numbers aren’t random—they’re clues.
You won’t find a cure in surveillance, but you’ll find time. Time to act. Time to adjust meds. Time to talk about transplant options. The posts below cover the exact tools, tests, and red flags doctors use to monitor cirrhosis. You’ll see how blood thinners relate to clotting risks in liver disease, why certain pain meds can wreck your kidneys when your liver is already damaged, and how to spot the first signs of infection or fluid overload. This isn’t guesswork. It’s a system. And if you or someone you care about has cirrhosis, you need to understand it.