In our daily life, we occasionally encounter or hear of the following misfortune: a patient is usually in good health, eating and living and daily work in good condition, yet one day, he fell ill due to an attack of liver disease, and even took the road of no return …… Why would a healthy tough guy fall down due to a liver disease? This is what we often wonder about! In medicine, hepatologists often describe the liver as a “silent organ”, its “silence” is that the liver is also silently suffering from viral attacks and destruction: a group of liver cells (the smallest members of the liver) are destroyed, and a new group of liver cells replenish However, in reality, the new liver cells are often not enough to compensate for the destroyed liver, and the liver damage without new liver cells replenishment is often replaced by liver fibers (what we figuratively call “scars” of the liver), and the long-term development of this abnormal liver fibrosis results in cirrhosis. Despite cirrhosis, the liver has a strong compensatory function (equivalent to “reserve power”). If the disease can be detected in time in the early stage of cirrhosis, so that through effective antiviral treatment to inhibit the destruction of the liver and stop the continued development of liver fibrosis, the degree of cirrhosis can be effectively controlled, these patients with cirrhosis can be limited to compensated cirrhosis, and even some patients with cirrhosis can be reversed and eliminated, can still work and live normally as normal people, the quality of life is basically not affected. Once the disease develops into decompensated cirrhosis, the outcome will be very different: although some patients can improve their condition through treatment such as virus control, the quality of life is greatly reduced; a small number of patients can not control their condition despite treatment; in addition, a significant proportion of patients will develop into liver cancer. This shows that timely and early detection of cirrhosis is crucial for patients with liver disease to effectively treat the disease and improve their quality of life. So, how can cirrhosis be detected early? First, it is important to review your own condition and assess whether you are at risk for cirrhosis. Currently, it is believed that patients with the following factors are more likely to develop cirrhosis: men, age 40 or older, hepatitis B virus genotype C, hepatitis B virus-positive “minor triplets”, hepatitis B virus DNA above 10,000 copies/mL, and hepatitis B patients over 30 years of age, in addition, frequent heavy alcohol consumption can accelerate the development of cirrhosis In addition, frequent and heavy alcohol consumption can accelerate the development of cirrhosis. Therefore, all hepatitis B patients with the above risk factors should be screened for cirrhosis, especially those who do not have regular checkups (meaning liver function checks every 3-6 months), and if liver function abnormalities are found on occasional checkups, they must undergo detailed tests to rule out the possibility of cirrhosis. To date, liver aspiration biopsy (“liver aspiration”) remains a reliable tool for early detection of cirrhosis, and although liver biopsy can miss a small number of cirrhotic cases, it is still the most accurate test. Liver biopsy allows early detection of cirrhosis and severe liver fibrosis in the presence of cirrhotic trends. However, liver biopsy is an invasive test, and some patients have doubts and worries and are reluctant to undergo liver puncture, are there other non-invasive tests for early detection of cirrhosis? Ultrasound is a routine examination method in liver disease diagnosis and treatment, which is simple and convenient. However, unfortunately, the percentage of cirrhosis detected by ultrasound is very low. One of our clinical studies showed that ultrasound examination can only detect about 50% of cirrhosis, and some ultrasound examinations are misdiagnosed, and another about 50% of early cirrhosis cannot be detected by ultrasound examination. However, since the ability of ultrasound to screen for early cirrhosis is still poor, and the diagnosis of typical cirrhosis with ultrasound performance will still miss nearly half of the cirrhosis, is there any other non-invasive means to detect cirrhosis early? In recent years, Europe and Asia have become popular for early detection of cirrhosis with another non-invasive screening device, which is currently called “FibroScanò”. In Europe, the application of this instrument began at the beginning of this century, and now China has introduced the application of this instrument for liver fibrosis and early cirrhosis examination, and hospitals around the country will gradually promote the application of this instrument. According to the results of joint research in France, Hong Kong and a number of hospitals in China, if the FibroScanò check the liver elasticity value (also known as “liver hardness”) in more than 18KPa, basically can confirm the existence of early (compensated) cirrhosis, when the liver elasticity value below 11KPa, there is no cirrhosis of the liver The probability is up to 99%, while patients with liver elasticity values between 11 and 18 KPa (about 30%) need further liver puncture to confirm. In actual medical practice, patients with liver disease can first be screened by FibroScanò examination, and if the liver elasticity value is higher than 18 KPa, antiviral treatment is recommended in order to control the development of liver disease as soon as possible to avoid aggravation; if the liver elasticity value is below 10 KPa, the disease can be monitored regularly; while patients with liver disease whose liver elasticity value is between 10 and 18 If the liver elasticity value is below 10 KPa, the condition can be monitored regularly; while patients with liver disease whose liver elasticity value is between 10 and 18 KPa are the key target of cirrhosis screening and can further undergo ultrasound examination; if cirrhosis manifestation exists in ultrasound examination, they should be treated as early cirrhosis; if no cirrhosis manifestation exists in ultrasound examination, they can only resort to liver aspiration! Dear patients, at this point, do you have a good idea of how to detect cirrhosis at an early stage? Simply put, if you are a patient with liver disease and have one of the following conditions, you should undergo a FibroScanò examination and decide whether to undergo further ultrasound examination and, if necessary, liver aspiration based on the results of the examination: ① you are a male over 40 years old who is HBsAg positive for hepatitis B; ② you are infected with hepatitis B virus genotype C; ③ you are currently a “small triple-positive” hepatitis B patient with HBV DNA higher than (3) You are currently a “minor third-positive” hepatitis B patient with HBV DNA higher than 10,000 copies/mL; (4) You are hepatitis B positive and drink a lot of alcohol; (5) You are a hepatitis B carrier but have never had your liver function checked regularly (meaning every 3-6 months), and occasional tests reveal abnormal liver function.