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There are 4 stages of cirrhosis. With 4th being the most severe.
The first stage - inflammation of the bile ducts - is the least serious, and stage 4 - the most serious. Ongoing cirrhosis can lead to liver failure, which occurs when the liver is no longer able to function."
These stages (or levels) don't always correlate well with the actual symptoms (if there are any), and are generally based on laboratory and other clinical findings. By stage 3 symptoms are commonly seen, and are often fairly serious. Stage 4 or end stage cirrhosis is indicative of greatest sustainable liver damage, but even then some patients do fairly well and have relatively good outcomes, while others succumb to some complication. Much depends upon the underlying cause, which is usually either due to hepatitis or excessive alcohol use. If alcohol use is curbed totally, some patients don't progress beyond whatever stage they are in, and even an end-stage patient may do fairly well, with the caveat that any alcohol ingestion at that stage could potentially be fatal.
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Posted by denisewallace
My husband has chronic Hepatitis C, his liver biopsy shows grade 2, stage 2. He is on his second round of Interferon and Riboviron, what does this mean?