Cirrhosis is a condition that arises as a result of chronic liver damage, typically over many years. It is characterised by fibrosis and nodularity of the liver parenchyma. Common causes of chronic liver disease include alcohol, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and chronic viral hepatitis. Nearly half of patients with cirrhosis are asymptomatic. As a result the condition may only be discovered incidentally as a result of abnormalities in liver function tests or imaging of the abdomen performed for other reasons. Alternatively patients may present with signs and symptoms of the complications of cirrhosis e.g. jaundice, ascites, variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy or hepatocellular carcinoma. The gold standard test for the diagnosis of cirrhosis remains a liver biopsy.