TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Approach to the Patient with Liver Disease A1 - Ghany, Marc G. A1 - Hoofnagle, Jay H. A2 - Jameson, J. Larry A2 - Fauci, Anthony S. A2 - Kasper, Dennis L. A2 - Hauser, Stephen L. A2 - Longo, Dan L. A2 - Loscalzo, Joseph PY - 2018 T2 - Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 20e AB - A diagnosis of liver disease usually can be made accurately by careful elicitation of the patient’s history, physical examination, and application of a few laboratory tests. In some circumstances, radiologic examinations are helpful or, indeed, diagnostic. Liver biopsy is considered the criterion standard in evaluation of liver disease, but is now needed less for diagnosis than for grading (activity) and staging (fibrosis) of disease. Non-invasive means of assessing fibrosis stage have become increasingly helpful and may allow for avoidance of biopsy in a proportion of patients. This chapter provides an introduction to diagnosis and management of liver disease, briefly reviewing the structure and function of the liver; the major clinical manifestations of liver disease; and the use of clinical history, physical examination, laboratory tests, imaging studies, and liver biopsy. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/10/04 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1156507360 ER -