The term "cardiac cirrhosis" is used to denote various conditions. According to some authors, the term signifies any type of hepatic fibrosis occurring in a patient with cardiac disease; to others it signifies that the hepatic fibrosis is due to congestive failure, while some authors reserve the application of the term for cases in which cirrhosis of the liver due to congestive failure is responsible for clinical manifestations of portal obstruction, such as recurrent ascites or splenomegaly. Thus, the varied usages of the term imply (1) a simple coexistence of hepatic fibrosis and cardiac disease, (2) a causal interrelation between the two anatomic conditions or (3) a causal morphologic interrelation which results in clinical manifestations of portal obstruction.1
These different connotations of the term have been responsible in part for the conflicting statements in the literature. There has also been considerable discussion as to the site and nature of