Treatment of Low-grade Cirrhotic Portal Hypertension Due to Hepatitis B Virus With Fuzheng Huayu and Entecavir

Portal hypertension is a common pathology in chronic liver disease, particularly in liver cirrhosis. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is one of most etiologies of liver cirrhosis in China. The basic reason for portal hypertension in HBV is the largely deposition of hepatic extracellular matrixes which causes high pressure in liver vessels. One of the most common symptoms of cirrhotic portal hypertension is gastroesophageal varices.The effective inhibition of HBV can partially stop or reverse liver fibrosis in patients with chronic Hepatitis and liver cirrhosis due to HBV and the anti-fibrotic strategy focusing on the regulation of hepatic extracellular matrix may have a great benefit. Therefore, antivirals therapy is also a basic treatment for low-grade cirrhotic portal hypertension. Fuzheng Huayu has been found to enhance the degradation of collagens in fibrotic liver and have a good action against liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B. However, there are no high quality clinical evidences which can demonstrate if the combination of anti-viral and anti-fibrotic therapy can relieve the pressure of liver vessels and decline incidence rate and bleeding rate of gastroesophageal varices.