Portal vein hypertension is most frequently caused by which condition?

Prepare for Liver Disease and Tumors Test with tailored flashcards and questions. Get detailed explanations and improve your knowledge. Ace the medical student exam!

Portal hypertension arises mainly from increased resistance to portal blood flow within the liver. The most common cause is cirrhosis, where fibrotic scarring and nodular distortion of hepatic architecture stiffen the sinusoids and parenchyma, dramatically raising intrahepatic (and thus portal) pressure. Alcoholic hepatitis can contribute but typically progresses to cirrhosis and isn’t by itself the primary driver. Right‑sided heart failure elevates hepatic venous pressure (a posthepatic contributor) and portal vein thrombosis blocks flow prehepatically, but both are much less frequent causes of portal hypertension compared with cirrhosis.