Published online May 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i20.6117
Peer-review started: January 30, 2015
First decision: March 10, 2015
Revised: March 20, 2015
Accepted: April 16, 2015
Article in press: April 17, 2015
Published online: May 28, 2015
Processing time: 121 Days and 0.1 Hours
Severe complications of liver cirrhosis are mostly related to portal hypertension. At the base of the pathogenesis of portal hypertension is the increase in hepatic vascular resistance to portal blood flow with subsequent development of hyperdynamic circulation, which, despite of the formation of collateral circulation, promotes progression of portal hypertension. An important role in its pathogenesis is played by the rearrangement of vascular bed and angiogenesis. As a result, strategic directions of the therapy of portal hypertension under liver cirrhosis include selectively decreasing hepatic vascular resistance with preserving or increasing portal blood flow, and correcting hyperdynamic circulation and pathological angiogenesis, while striving to reduce the hepatic venous pressure gradient to less than 12 mmHg or 20% of the baseline. Over the last years, substantial progress in understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms of hemodynamic disorders under liver cirrhosis has resulted in the development of new drugs for their correction. Although the majority of them have so far been investigated only in animal experiments, as well as at the molecular and cellular level, it might be expected that the introduction of the new methods in clinical practice will increase the efficacy of the conservative approach to the prophylaxis and treatment of portal hypertension complications. The purpose of the review is to describe the known methods of portal hypertension pharmacotherapy and discuss the drugs that may affect the basic pathogenetic mechanisms of its development.
Core tip: The purpose of the review is to describe the known methods of portal hypertension pharmacotherapy and discuss the drugs that may affect the basic pathogenetic mechanisms of its development.