Understanding Congestive Hepatopathy: The Silent Progression from Heart to Liver
Congestive hepatopathy (CH) represents a critical yet often overlooked complication of chronic right-sided heart failure and other conditions leading to elevated central venous pressure. For decades, clinicians have observed the phenomenon of cardiac cirrhosis, where the liver gradually becomes fibrotic and eventually progresses to portal hypertension and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the precise molecular bridge between mechanical congestion and the biological response of liver cells remained poorly understood. A groundbreaking study by Kato et al., published in Gastroenterology, has now illuminated this path, identifying the Integrin αV-YAP-CTGF axis in liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) as a primary driver of this pathological process.
